Requiem
by Citizen Chauvelin
Summary: A year after the defeat of Chaos, the senshi are faced with a threat they can't see that forces them to weigh the costs of sacrificing one person to save the world.
1. Author's Note

This fic has been a long, long time in the making, and in my head, it's constantly being revised, However, I kind of like what I have right now, so I'm going to run with it. First off, a few things:

I'm drawing most of this from the anime, but I am implementing a few things from PGSM that I really, really like, and think fits in with the anime pretty well. Like…Sailor Mercury going over to the bad side. Now, this is not an Evil!Ami fic in the slightest. However, this fic goes under the assumption that Ami is more susceptible to dark energies then the others because she constantly feels lonely and insecure, and the anime really supports this, and it's exploited by Esmerald in an episode too. This is my major assumption, so if you don't like this, well…you're probably not going to like this fic.

For the rest of you, enjoy!

Sailor Moon's sort of a new fandom for me to be writing about, and I'll get back to writing Pimpernel in a few days.

Also, the chapters for this thing aren't going to be very long. This way, I can update a lot faster.

That's all!

**Chapter 9**: Let it be known that yes, Serafim is a real name, and yes, there's a damn good reason I decided to call him this. There, justified!

**Chapter 16**: Two things! First, I want to answer a review that I can't directly respond to: Witch Shade, I hadn't even considered doing that at all, but I love it! Consider it done. Secondly, I will give major kudos to anyone who first gets where I'm drawing my names from. Happy searching!

**Chapter 19**: Long time no update! But I'm back from my summer hiatus, and you can expect pretty regular updates from now on. Just a quick note, things really start picking up after this chapter, I promise. It's going to be moving pretty quickly from here on out, so buckly up, buddies! And yes, buckly is a word. In my world...

Also, I feel I have to mention this at the risk of alerting people to a parallel they wouldn't necessarily draw, but...So this summer I bought myself a PS3 as a gift to myself and finally got around to playing Kingdom Hearts, a series I really had only a very vague idea about. And by vague, I mean I knew that it was Final Fantasy meets Disney. But while I was playing, dear readers, I was sort of struck by the resemblance of Organization XIII to my Council of Twelve. And in my mind, I'm going, well, this isn't going to look good...

Seriously though, any similarity is purely coincidental. Like much of Sailor Moon, I draw these guys from Greek mythology. Not a bunch of dudes in black running around and being gay with each other. So...enjoy!

**Chapter 22**: Man, it's been a while, huh? I'll start updating fairly regularly on this, since the amount I have written but not typed is starting to get insane. Anyway, it's a big plot chapter! These things have to happen occasionally, right? Things start picking up after here guys, so let me know what you guys like/hate/want to see!


	2. Prologue

The senshi arrived in a cold, dark hall, a monolithic temple of black marble. Their shoes echoed loudly as they ran through the massive building toward the only structures in the cold, tomb-like room, an impressive an ornate alter, a single flat, broad, smooth surface that rose seemingly from the sea of black floor. As they came closer, the image of a lifeless man loomed above the alter, suspended against the surface of a towering black obelisk, his arms held out and hanging limply against the shiny black stone. And laying on the alter below him was a beautiful blond boy, nearly entirely undressed, unconscious, and tied to the sacrificial slab. It was only when the senshi came close enough to see the face of the golden haired man that another emerged from the shadows, a white haired man with wicked eyes and bearing a large knife of the same black, sinister stone of the mausoleum.

"I have gathered all the elements here, senshi," the man said softly, leaning over the sacrifice. "With this, I can obtain the power of the dark god."

"You don't have to do this!" Sailor Moon shouted, stepping forward and readying herself to draw upon the Silver Crystal.

"Senshi," he said softly, patronizing the young woman and raising the knife. "It is already done." With that, he plunged the knife down, the demonic blade tearing through the man's body, and the sacrifice arched off the stone, screaming in agony and blood running in thick, dark red streams off the alter.

There was a flash of light, and a powerful, single pulse from the body of the man that hung from the obelisk, knocking the senshi back as a great roar tore through the air as the temple cracked and crumbled around them…


	3. Chapter 1

Ami Mizuno shot up in bed, breathing heavily and her forehead covered in sweat. Breath shallow, rushed and frightened, she looked about the room with wide, alert blue eyes. Seeing nothing but the calm of her room gently lit by the early morning light, she took in a shaking breath and put her hand to her brow, closing her eyes and slowing her rapid heart rate. It was just a dream.

It had been nearly a year since Sailor Moon had defeated Chaos. Nearly a year of the happy, peaceful life of normal girls, and not one of them could be happier with their lot. They were out of the face of danger, and time and energy that typically would have been dedicated to sailor business could be refocused, aimed instead at at cultivating their talents. They had been fighting for so long – nearly four years – that they had nearly forgotten what it was to lead normal lives, but with some time and adjustment, they gradually settled back into their lives. It was a wonderful contrast to their previous existence.

Until the nightmares started.

It had all started nearly three weeks ago when Raye had begun to feel the dark pulsing, a sinister undercurrent of electrical energy when she sat before the sacred fire. It had started weak, just a slight pull at the edge of her senses, but over time grew stronger, more oppressive, until dark energies pervaded her consciousness. So strong was this force that at one time, the holy fortress that was the Hikawa Shrine was penetrated, and the sacred fire, supposedly resistant to evil, was doused, put out by an overwhelming darkness.

Usagi began the feel it the week after Raye, and it immediately seared into her mind and vision, causing her terrible headaches as the Silver Crystal would flare up and hum with high frequency energy to protect its guardian. It did not take long before she would wake up I the morning as Sailor Moon, the Silver Crystal having transformed her on its own to prepare her to respond to an unseen threat, and she began to fear that she may spontaneously transform in front of others, which would be catastrophic.

It was only the last week that Ami had felt the effects, causing her intense nightmares that Raye believed to be premonitions, and occasionally felt a strong pulsating in her chest, as if her heart suddenly stops, strongly contracts, and stops once again before continuing on beating like nothing had happened. It was only recently that the visions were becoming detailed and vivid, and despite no logical basis for it, Ami was becoming worried for the blond boy on the alter.

The girls who once called themselves the sailor senshi began realizing that they were going to have to say goodbye to their normal lives and once again take up the mantle against this enemy they could not see but keenly felt.

It was to this day that Ami awoke. She slowly breathed, calming her heart beat and quickly repeating the dream over and over in her mind so she could be sure to remember. After a few minutes, she looked over at the clock, groaned, and got out of bed to get ready for the meeting at the Hikawa Shrine.


	4. Chapter 2

"I wanna know," Minako loudly declared, "why it is that Ami gets psychic powers now."

Ami sighed and took her glasses off. "I keep telling you. There's a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this." There was a brief pause as Ami considered this, then quickly stated, "And I'm not psychic."

"It's reasonable to consider," Raye said, crossing her eyes and narrowing her eyes in concentration. "I mean, I don't know why you're feeling it. We know I feel is because I _am_ psychic and I'm sensitive to these things."

"Usagi feels it because she has the Silver Crystal," Makoto said, and everyone nodded. "I think that stands to reason."

"So Ami feels it because-"

"Because she's smart!" Usagi exclaimed, and everyone groaned, simultaneously face-palming.

"You moron!" Raye shouted, effectively getting up in her face. "That has nothing to do with it!"

"Well, how do you know it's not!" Usagi yelled back. "Nobody else is as smart as her, so maybe she's so smart she sees the future! That's what Ryo did!"

"First off, Ryo saw the future because of a Rainbow Crystal and had a monster from the Dark Kingdom inside him! And secondly, that doesn't explain how it happened before, idiot!" the priestess yelled, getting more and more angry at her less intelligent comrade. "And it doesn't account for the chest pain! And that's not how seeing the future _works_!"

Usagi was just opening her mouth to scream back, but Makoto quickly covered the enraged blonde's mouth with her hand. "Wait a minute, wait a minute. This whole situation's different. Usagi has never had reactions to dark energy either."

"Because she has the Silver Crystal," Minako stated, crossing her arms and nodding, pleased with herself. "I guess it just makes her more sensitive to these things."

"No, that doesn't explain why she didn't react to Pharaoh 90, or Chaos or the Doom Phantom," Ami said softly, putting her hand to her chin and thinking deeply for a moment. Tapping her pencil against the desk and taking a deep breath, she finally said, "We can make a few assumptions here. First off, for the time being, let's say Raye doesn't count."

"_HA_!" Usagi shouted, pointing her finger in the raven haired maiden's face. "You heard it. _YOU_ don't count!"

"Usagi, please, just shut up," Makoto sighed, shaking her head.

"So…why don't I count?" Raye asked, and Ami put her glasses back on.

"You have had visions and feelings before. We can make the assumption that since Usagi and I are having reactions too, that this situation is different. So to examine what makes this different, we need to examine the different factors." She paused, exhaled quickly and continued with, "You're our constant. Later, you're going to be able to tell us what is new and what is the same as the visions you have had before. But first we need to find out why this is happening to us now."

Raye glared at Usagi, a triumphant look on her face, and slowly and with much care and deliberation, stuck out her tongue. Sensing the tremendous explosion that the high energy blond was about to indulge in, Ami quickly stated in an uncharasterically loud voice, "I think…" she trailed off, seeing their fearless leader calm down quickly, and in her typical quite voice said, "I think that we can assume that this is nothing like we have faced before, since the Silver Crystal is responding. I think it's also safe to assume that the Silver Crystal doesn't respond on it's own to just evil. It is clearly repelling something, but what? We're certainly dealing with something completely different from what we usually fight. Something here is clearly very different."

"Well, almost everything we ever fought was just a part of Chaos, right?" Usagi asked, and the two cats in the corner surveying the meeting suddenly perked up.

"Usagi, I am so pleased you remembered that!" Luna chirped, and the blond slouched against the wall, glaring at the cat.

"Oh, come on. What is this, some kind of joke…" the Moon Princess mumbled.

"That's actually a really good point," Makoto said. "We know this isn't Chaos, right?"

"We can't _know_ that at this point," Ami said softly, tapping her finger against the table. "But I think that's most likely, yes."

"Wait, wait," Minako interrupted loudly, some of the girls cringing at the volume of the aspiring idol. "That explains Usagi. What about Ami?"

The blue haired girl opened her mouth to speak, but quickly stopped and remained silent, her fingers pressed against her lips as she thought.

"Do you think it's even evil?" Makoto asked, and Raye glared at her.

"Of course it's evil," she said harshly, rubbing her temples. "I don't think any of us would be reacting so badly if it were good. At the very least, it's a dark power, I know that."

"And would the Silver Crystal be responding so severely if it was good?" Minako asked, and for a minute, the room was silent.

"Maybe it's responding to an ally. Or someone who needs help," Usagi suggested.

"Or a great enemy," Raye reaffirmed, standing by her position.

"Could it be an equal? Like, a similar power level?" Makoto asked, and Minako's eyes lit up.

"But wasn't Chaos it's rival in power?" the blond asked, and her white cat lept up on to the table.

"No. If it were truly an equal, the Silver Crystal would not have been able to subdue him," Artemis asserted.

"Luna," Ami asked, and the speculating group fell silent. "Do all of us have crystals like Usagi? We have been in contact with more than just the Silver Crystal, so there are clearly others. I thought maybe we could be carriers as well. It could account for Makoto's strength, and Raye's psychic powers, and my intelligence, and Minako's…"

Minako's big, blue eyes were fixated on the little senshi of ice, large and shining with hopes and dreams, and Ami managed to squeak, "…Minako's…uh…persistence…"

The senshi of love was about to object, but Luna quickly interjected with, "I don't remember anything like that." She sighed, looking down at the table. "I'm sorry. If only I remembered everything from before…"

"No, it's not your fault," Ami said quickly. "It's just a theory anyway. If we have crystals, though, it could explain some of the reactions we have been having."

"So why don't Minako and I have reactions too?" Makoto asked, and Ami just shook her head.

"I don't know anything yet. Maybe the energy isn't emitting the sort of energy that would activate yours. Maybe you don't have them. Or maybe this has nothing to do with it. I don't know."

"The best thing we can do now is keep an eye on it," Raye stated, and the girls nodded in agreement. "And I'm worried about that boy from Ami's dream. Do you think you could recognize him if you saw him?"

Ami held her breath, a concerned look crossing her face. "I don't know. I think I might be able to. I'll…I'll look harder if I have it again."

"Pay as close attention as you can," Raye instructed, smiling in satisfaction. "And in the meantime, we'll all just keep alert."

"Yes. All we can do now is observe what is happening and learn all we can from what we see," Luna said, looking over her senshi. "In the meantime, though, we need to start training. We have been off for a while, and if we are going to be fighting again, we need to be ready. We may be having someone we must protect as well, so we need to be on the top of our game."

"Right," Artemis concurred. "We'll meet here same time tomorrow and we will get started. The city needs the senshi again, and this thing isn't going to know what hit it."


	5. Chapter 3

The tips of his fingers were suddenly filled with warmth and they reflexively twitched, slowly moved from years of being frozen. There was a surge of heat, and the man suddenly dropped to the ground, his legs weak and shaky and unable to support him after so much time of going unused. Oxygen filled and burned his lungs as he shook and trembled against the cold, his eyes shut against the burning light, made sensitive by his time in absolute darkness.

"Do not be startled. You are awake."

The man tilted his head in the direction of the smooth, cold voice and shuddered, attempting to get up and failing spectacularly. "Why did you release me?" he growled, squinting up at the man clothed in darkness, only able to make out sharp red eyes from the shadows of his face.

The man shrugged. "I need a hand in my affairs in the city of Tokyo. Besides, Eternal Sleep is a terrible thing, isn't it, Jadeite?"

His eyes had adjusted, and the ice blue glared defiantly at the red. "How do you know me?"

"My people studied your kingdom and their failures," the shadow said, smirking as the general tensed, jaw clenched in controlled rage. "I've learned from the Dark Kingdom, and I believe you were the most effective of Beryl's generals. I want you to do my work on Earth because I know you will be effective."

Jadeite grinned. "And if I do? What's in it for me?"

"I'm looking to awaken the Dark Crystal," the shadow purred, closely examining the general's skepticism. "With it, I can awaken the dark god that resides within it, and he has limitless power. Help me, and I will give you power you couldn't possibly imagine."

There was a brief silence for a moment before Jadeite began laughing, the dark figure merely observing him stoically. "Do you take me for a fool? Why shouldn't I just go get this thing myself? Why should I have to depend on you for power when I can have it on my own?"

"You can't touch it," the shadow said, red eyes glowing. "The crystal would reject you and tear your body apart. It can only sync with a very specific energy frequency. You don't have that."

"Then what the hell do you want me to do!" the young general cried, growing ever more angry at the smug, arrogant, shadow of a man that stood before him, and the dark creature simply laughed.

"Oh, Jadeite, you are instrumental to me. The Dark Crystal is inside a human. I need you to seek him out and bring him to me. I will remove the crystal."

"Yeah? Well, I won't do it," the general said defiantly, crossing his arms and legs. "Do your own dirty work; I'm not anybody's puppet."

The shadow simply sighed, his breath freezing in the chill air, and with a lazy wave of his hand, ice suddenly encased the general's legs, and with a terrified and shocked scream that caught in his throat as his body tensed with cold, the young man began to struggle, icy blue eyes wide with fear.

"If that is what you want," the cloaked figure said softly. "I gave you a chance for freedom. You are a fool for declining my offer, but I suppose it can't be helped."

"No, wait! You said…" he started, voice choking over fear and cold and desperation. "You said you needed me!"

"Oh, but Jadeite, I do. But this does not mean you are indispensable. Look around you," he said softly, gesturing to the endless space filled with cold, frozen haze and a sea of ice crystals, each one containing a being that had been banished there to the land of Eternal Sleep, each one frozen with looks of horror and fear marked on their faces as they relived nothing but nightmares for eternity.

"I do need you, Jadeite. I do not have a corporeal form anymore. I only exist as a real being in ethereal plains like this one. I need somebody to help me on Earth, but I am not so desperate that I need to choose you. I have hundreds of thousands of options. You were my first choice, but you're not so special that you get any kind of sway or bargaining power. No doubt my next choice will promise to obey in exchange for getting out of this hell."

"No, no, wait! Please!" the blond cried as the ice quickly made its way up his chest, tears running from his eyes but quickly freezing on his cheeks as the cloaked figure turned from him and began to walk away. "Please, I'll do as you say, just please! _Please_! Don't leave me here!" The figure stopped and looked over his shoulder, glaring menacingly at the struggling man nearly entirely encased in the ice. "Please," Jadeite said weakly. "Please. I'll help you. I'll get this human for you. I don't want the crystal; I don't want power or anything. Just get me out of here."

"And then what? What happens after you have done as I asked?"

"I don't care," the general choked, shoulders shaking from cold and emotion. "I just want to live somewhere and pretend like nothing I have done ever happened."

For a while, the shadow didn't move, and everything was silent, save for quiet, coked sobs that seemed to echo in the desolate space. Then a flood of warmth once again overtook his body, and the ice melted from Jadeite's prone form. The general lay sobbing freely on the ground, muttering quiet thank you's under his breath.

"We should leave this place," the dark figure said passionlessly.

"What…what is my mission? What is it I should do?" Jadeite asked as he crawled to his knees.

The cloaked man sighed and looked at him sympathetically. "I will give you details about it later. For now, just prepare yourself for the inevitability that others will also be after him."

Jadeite's eyes lit up with something cruel, a long instilled feeling of hatred and revenge that suddenly seemed to possess his entire being. "The senshi? Are the senshi after him?"

"Understand, Jadeite," the man said smoothly, a sharp current of danger running through his voice that shook the young general out of his vengeful state. "The senshi are not to be attacked outright. Stay hidden if you can. If not, only attack if you are attacked first. We cannot afford to have them know what we are doing. They could ruin everything."

"If we kill them, they won't be a problem."

"Killing them is impossible without the Black Crystal."

"But-"

"We are not here for revenge, Jadeite. Beryl did this to you, not them."

The blond held his breath and looked away, clearly not pleased, but he nodded, quietly growling, "Yes, I understand."

"Good." With a wave of his hand, a dark portal materialized before them, and the cloaked figure seemed to float through. "Come, my general," he commanded from the void. "We have work to do."

"Just…just what are you?" the general asked, staring warily at the portal. "Who are you?"

"In time, Jadeite," the voice said softly, red eyes seemingly looking right through him. "In time, you'll know everything."

As Jadeite stepped through the portal, it quickly closed behind him, leaving the plain as cold and empty and silent as it was before, save for one small gap in the sea of crystal where the Dark Kingdom's Jadeite once stood.


	6. Chapter 4

"Jupiter Oak Evolution!"

Sailor Moon deftly dodged the attack, leaping out of the way just before one of the orbs of energy struck her wing and in seconds, she was facing the assaulting senshi, her weapon drawn and poised at her chest, ready to strike.

"Good, good, well done!" Luna said, and the two sparring warriors relaxed, laughing as they shook themselves off. For the past two weeks, the senshi had been training intensively, honing their abilities to their former state and beyond, shaping themselves into formidable fighters once again. The darkness that threatened them continued to grow stronger; so strong that even Jupiter and Venus were beginning to feel it, a gentle pull in their chest or a light tingling in their fingers from time to time. But it was the other three that really began to suffer.

But these effects were not without benefits. With increased severity came an increase in accuracy. Raye could now feel the direction from which the threat was coming, and Usagi began to be able to predict when there would be a surge of the dark energy. Ami could now describe and identify the boy on the alter from her dream, and from the examination of these visions, the senshi developed a preliminary goal: find and protect this boy.

Sailor Moon swung her arms, her wings stretching lightly as she relaxed. "Man, I'm beat!" she said, yawning as she leaned against a boulder in the dusty, empty canyon that they had teleported to in order to train privately. "We've been training so hard!"

"We have to in order to be ready," Mars said, wiping her forehead and breathing deeply.

"Yes, but I think we have had enough for the day," Luna said, stretching and walking toward the girls. "Are you all ready to go?"

"Yeah, I think so," Venus said, looking toward the sun as it set behind them. "It's getting late, and we've been here pretty much all afternoon."

"Yes, and I have quite a bit of studying to do," Mercury said, and the other girls groaned and shook their heads.

"You never change," Jupiter sighed. "Aren't you ahead of your classes yet?"

"Yes, but only by five chapters! All this training has really been cutting down on my study time."

"Wow, you're really slipping," Mars said, completely deadpan as she grabbed Venus and Moon's hands.

"Alright, alright, let's get back, Miss Bookworm," Jupiter said, taking the smaller senshi's hand and standing in the circle with the other girls.

With the two cats standing in the center, the girls focused their energies, and for one brief moment, their energies were like one, and in the next moment, they were gone, the canyon once again dusty and empty.

They reappeared at the Hikawa shrine before the sacred fire, now burning weakly under the dark energy that hung over the temple. In a flash of light, the girls were back in their civilian clothing. With a yawn, Usagi plunked down on the ground. "I'm so sleepy!"

"You are always sleepy. Or hungry," Luna sighed, shaking her head at the Moon Princess. "You girls have been doing good work," she said proudly, surveying her warriors. "But we still have a long ways to go, and we do not know how much time we have left."

"Right, we need to discuss what needs to be done," Artemis said, standing next to Luna.

"That's easy!" Usagi said lazily. "We protect the guy from Ami's dream."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that…" Raye said softly. "According to the dreams, this guy is needed to resurrect a dark god that will destroy the world, right?"

"If the dreams are actually accurate, then yes," Ami said, rubbing her eyes and flipping through pages of her planner, sighing at the amount of work that had been accumulated that she had yet to attend to.

"And if these bad guys get him, they need to kill him to do it," Makoto said, and Raye nodded.

"So I've been thinking. If this evil can only be brought to the world if this guy is sacrificed, then if he dies under different circumstances, this evil can't be revived, right?"

The room was silent for a while, save for the light crackling of the fire. Slowly, Ami managed to whisper, "Are you suggesting that we let him die?"

"No, but it needs to be something we consider," the priestess said softly. "If we save and protect him, then no matter what, the enemy, whoever they are, will always be after him. But if he were to die somewhere else, not in the circumstances that are necessary to call this evil god…well then, the world would be spared."

"But we don't know yet if they need him specifically," Ami said softly. "And we don't know if he just needs to die for their goal to be accomplished, or if it needs to be under certain circumstances."

"That's true," Luna said. "But if it is those circumstances that are needed…if it has to be him, and he has to be sacrificed…if that is the case, then maybe the world cannot have peace unless he does not exist."

"No!" Again, the room fell silent, and everyone looked at Usagi, standing up and tears in her proud blue eyes. "None of this is right! You're saying that we have to kill him to save the world? Well, I won't do it!"

"Usagi…"

"No! We're supposed to be defenders of love and justice! What kind of people would we be if we can't even save one person!"

"There might not be another way."

"Then we will find one! We can save both him and the world. We'll defeat whoever comes for him, I'll fight the rest of my life if I need to. But we _will_ save him."

"I agree with Usagi," Makoto said, and Minako nodded.

"Yeah, we can't kill an innocent person."

"And we've done this before!" Usagi added, growing more confident. "Hotaru had Mistress 9 inside her, remember? And that was necessary to bring Pharaoh 90 to the world."

"Yeah, but we couldn't save Hotaru, not really," Raye said somberly. "She sacrificed herself to save the world. She had to be reborn. She is not really the same person she was."

"We will find a way, we _will_," Usagi emphasized. "We can do it, right Ami?"

The blue haired girl sighed. "I want to save him as much as you do, but we may not have an option down the line. The important thing now is to stay open and not make any decisions yet. We do not really know anything, after all. Let's just wait and see what happens. We can make a decision about what to do after we know more about him and our enemy."

The girls nodded, tense and somber, and it was at this moment that the door slid open, a blond boy standing in the doorway, clutching his said tightly as blood seeped through his fingers and fell in thick, dark drops upon the wooden floor.

"Please," he craoked, shuddering and breathing ragged as the horrible red liquid began to pool at his feet, his red eyes dull and distant. "Please, help me."

He dropped to the floor, and the horrified senshi, frozen in their places, were suddenly moved into action, quickly running to the badly injured man. The girls dropped to their knees, their pants and skirts soaking up blood, and they placed their hands over several long, deep gashes in his side.

"Luna, Artemis, quick, go get Mamoru!" Usagi cried, pressing as hard as she could as per Ami's instructions. "He's…he's got to be able to help, he's going to be a doctor!" The cats were off like a shot, and no sooner had they left, Ami stopped, and she took her blood covered hands quickly away from the man.

"What, what's wrong?" Minako asked quickly as she dialed the number for the ambulance.

"The boy from my dream," the blue haired girl said quickly. "That's him."


	7. Chapter 5

He was a massive, towering demon of a man that stood nearly seven feet tall, the massive talons on his feet capable of digging into the ground when he walked, and sharp, fierce claws on his hands could easily tear through a person, and have before. But today, he was kneeling before a much smaller man, his yellow eyes shamed and disgraced.

"So," the smaller man asked, "where is he?"

"He got away, my lord," the demon's deep voice rumbled. "A warrior showed up and-"

"And nothing!" the white haired man snapped, the cold, vicious tone of his voice cutting the demon to the quick. "I have the body that is compatible for my plans. It took forever, but I have it," he growled, indicating behind him to the man that hung suspended against a smooth, black pillar, just a lifeless shell of a man that was once a living human. "And now you tell me that you lost my final component?" he growled, pulling his hair back harshly, and the large creature whimpered. "I should kill you," he whispered. There was a moment of silence before the white haired man snapped, "What warrior?"

"He is a dark warrior, my lord," he gasped. "He tried to take the boy away from me."

"Did he get him?" he asked softly, green eyes flashing dangerously.

"No," the demon growled. "The warrior showed up and I got distracted. He must have left after he was injured when I was fighting the warrior, and-"

"He what?" the white haired man cried, utter terror in his voice. "Is he alright? How hurt is he?"

"I…I don't know…"

"You fool!" the man shouted. "He is not to be harmed! How often must I say this!" He stomped off to the other side of the room, quietly fuming. "I have to do this myself, you incompetent," he growled, and the demon trembled. "You handle the warrior. I want him dead."

"Yes, my lord…"

"I will retrieve the boy. He must be kept safe at all costs. He is useless to me if he is not in one piece." The man chuckled, green eyes light with sinister delight. "When the time is right, I will have this world, and this boy is going to help me get it."


	8. Chapter 6

He entered the small flat, door closing with a heavy thud behind him. He had a splitting headache, and his recent failure needed to be reported, a task he was dreading. After all, the last time he had reported a failure, he had been put in Eternal Sleep. Jadeite never did deal well with failure.

He trudged into his living room and threw his glasses upon the table and pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to relieve his headache. Wearily, he placed his hand upon a large mirror he had upon the wall, eyes closed and breathing deeply, his forehead against the smooth, cool glass. After a short time, he opened his eyes, and instead of his own in the reflection, blood red ones stared back at him.

"I'm going to get this right out in the open. I failed."

The red eyes narrowed curiously, the figure of the cloaked man now merely a shadow in the mirror, faint and wavering lines the only things there to indicate he was human at all. "They have him?"

"Phff!" Jadeite scoffed, fingers drumming against the mirror. "No, he just got away. Did you know they have a demon? A demon! He's _huge_!"

"Is it an actual demon, or just a lesser or sub demon?"

"No, no!" the general cried. "This is a hundred percent pure straight from Nemesis demon!"

The shadow scoffed. "If we get the boy, we can handle him. Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah. He was injured and ran off. He's with the senshi." He paused, sneering slightly. "I _would_ have gotten him, but you told me to keep out of their sight."

"If that's the case, I'm glad you did," the shadow drawled before asking, "And you know for sure he's with the senshi?"

"Yes. After I got away from, you know, _the demon_, I tracked him to this shrine I know."

"The Hikawa shrine?"

"Yes. You know it?"

"Oh, I'm very familiar with that one," the shadowed man said softly.

"Well, the shrine maiden and two of her little friends are senshi," Jadeite said, leaning against the glass and examining his fingernails proudly. "Since our little target is there, I think we can assume he's with them. They have this irritating penchant to congregate there."

"Yes…" the shadow said thoughtfully, his mind moving quickly and piecing together everything. "I think, Jadeite, we will not consider today's events a failure. The senshi have this propensity to succeed, regardless of the odds against them."

"So attacking the little bitches is out…" the general grumbled.

The shadow smirked, something that could not be seen, but felt. "Yes, that's correct. I think the senshi could actually be an asset to us while we revise our plan, so long as they are kept unaware of us. No doubt they will keep him safe if he has come to them for help. And I doubt they will have any idea what we are up to anytime soon, so I think it would be foolish not to use them to our advantage."

"So, we're not going after this guy anymore? After so much work trying to find him?" Jadeite questioned, and the shadow seemed to waver.

"We will keep a close eye on him. Our mission was to locate him and keep him out of the hands of this organization, and we have done that. Finding him was the hard part."

"Is that really safe?" the general asked. "I mean, the senshi could lose him. Our enemies could get possession of him. Knowing what it is he has locked inside him, is it really a good idea for him to be running around like that?"

"That is why we will keep an eye on him," the shadow said softly. "We do not have to worry about it being released. He can't do it himself, and until we can locate and awaken the other half, we don't need to worry about it being released until we have him."

"Or in our enemy's possession."

"Yes, yes, they can release him as well."

"So," Jadeite asked, falling back on to his couch and stretching, "what do we do in the meantime?"

"We have several things we need to have done. We need to keep tabs on this boy. We need to track down our enemy and find out what they know, where they are located, and what they are planning to do next. We need to find the other half. And we need to find the compatible body for our mission."

Jadeite whistled. "That's an awful lot to do…"

"It's an awfully big thing we are trying to accomplish."

"Look, my lord, I'm sorry," Jadeite laughed, putting his hand behind his head. "Even if you were to help me as much as you were possibly able, there would still be no way I could do all that."

"I can watch the boy. Is that no aid to you?"

The general scoffed. "I guess, but if you're going to have be do those three things, you may as well have me do twelve. There's no way I can do it all, let alone do it quickly and efficiently and well."

There was a few minutes of silence, save for the light tapping of Jadeite's foot against the table, and then the shadow smugly said, "Would it help if I brought in another to help you?"

Jadeite perked up. "Another from Eternal Sleep?"

"Better," the shadow replied, a dark vortex opening up in the mirror. "Come, Jadeite, let's fetch you a comrade."

The general leapt up and rushed through the vortex, the two of them disappearing in the mirror when the void vanished.


	9. Chapter 7

When the boy passed out from loss of blood, everything went to hell.

Just seconds after his body went limp, a powerful pulse of dark energy sent a shock through the room, resonating within the senshi and knocking Minako and Makoto back across the room, hitting the wall on the far side. As the energy seemed to make the very air around them vibrate, a bright flash of light from Usagi filled the room, and in moments, Sailor Moon was kneeling there, her wings twitching with nervous anticipation.

It had all been nearly instantaneous, and as soon as the pulse tore through the air, Ami's heart stopped, and only a moment later, a similar wave, one she had experienced before, seemed to pound out of her own chest; a strong, single contraction in her heart that seemed to resonate with the other wave and knocked her to her knees, her vision going black as her heart stopped and she fell to the floor, surrounded by darkness.

Raye, however, was fine. She was more than fine, and as the pulsating waves of energy invaded her mind, her senses sharpened to an inhuman degree. For a moment, she saw it. All the energy from not one, but three powerful waves. One from her comrade and friend, Ami, who lay unconscious upon the ground. One from Sailor moon, her forced transformation a radical response from the Silver Crystal. Both a response to this boy, who had turned their lives around by accident.

The energy waves disappeared in seconds, but left over from the devastating event, visible only to the psychic, were strong, bright points of light shining brilliantly within the three. And then, like it had never happened, the energy evaporated and Raye's vision returned to normal, the only evidence that the afternoon had been disrupted were the girls left groggy or unconscious, and the boy in the doorway.

Pulling her out of her revere was a monotonous, continuous beeping, and the priestess went and hung up the phone with which Minako had attempted to call the ambulance before this had happened.

"What the hell was that!" Makoto yelled, grasping her head and struggling to her feet.

"Ami!" Sailor Moon cried desperately, scrambling to her friend, who was tremendously pale and seemingly lifeless upon the ground. She threw herself upon her prone comrade and lay her head upon her chest, her breath held as she waited, and then released, exhaling in relief. "It's okay, she has a heartbeat, she's okay!"

"No duh she's okay, she's breathing," Raye said, indicating to the shallow rise and fall of her chest as she knelt beside the boy, feeling the blood on his shirt.

"Who is that guy?" Minako asked, brushing herself off.

"Ami said it's the guy from her dream," Makoto said as she grabbed a water pitcher and a bowl, quickly placing it between the two unconscious people and attending to them.

"So…what do we do with him?" Minako asked, helping the other girls take care of their friend and the badly injured man.

A light seemed to go on in Sailor Moon's head. "We need to protect him!" she emphatically declared, and Raye muttered an underplayed, "Huh…"

Usagi was outraged. "Well, we do! If bad people are after him and he was hurt and needs help, then-"

"His wounds closed up," the priestess said deadpan, fingering his skin beneath the tears in his shirt.

"Huh?"

"His injuries. They're gone," she repeated, crossing her arms and legs and pondering all she had seen that day. Who was this guy? And what was the energy she saw? She had too many questions, and there were absolutely no answers for any of it.

"How did that happen!" Minako cried, feeling the boy all over and looking for the wounds from which the blood came from, but found nothing but large scars.

"Do you think…" Makoto started, considering her thought. "Do you think that maybe all that energy healed him?"

"I don't think we can say yet," Raye said, breathing deeply as she looked over the formerly injured stranger. "But I think this guy might be the source of our problems."


	10. Chapter 8

"Holy shit, it's cold!"

Jadeite shivered, his arms grasping himself tightly against the raging and bitterly cold wind in this frozen wasteland, and the general decided right then and there that he hated the cold. Positively loathed it. He was going to go home and turn on the heat. And light a fire. And sit in scalding water. And vacation to Ecuador, and whatever the hell else, so help him, so long as he was as far from coldness as he could possibly be.

"Does it remind you of home, Jadeite?" his dismembered friend drawled, and he sneered, glaring at his own shadow, which was emblazoned with the bright red eyes of his current superior.

"Don't say things like that, because when you say it, it isn't funny!" the blond cried, and the shadow snickered. "Eternal Sleep was better than this; at least it wasn't windy there!"

His shadow simply chuckled. "I was not talking about Eternal Sleep, Jadeite," his dark companion said softly, detaching the general's shadow from him and standing it upright, forming a dark figure of smoke and shadow that moved by the red eyed man's will, leaving Jadeite feeling a little off, hazy as though he was missing something.

"Wait, hold on, I-"

"Come along," the man said, and he drifted off, seeming to float on air, the smoke billowing out behind him and becoming lost on the harsh wind. Confused, Jadeite felt compelled to follow the ghostly figure of his shadow that was no longer his.

For hours, they walked in this tundra. In the beginning, Jadeite tried having a conversation, or asking questions, but each time, he was met with either silence, or answers like, "You'll see," and, "In time, patience," and the irritation of it all forced the general into silence, brooding instead on how much he hated the cold.

After some time, the surroundings changed, and the two were suddenly heading down through a deep canyon, the snowy mountains around then shielding them from the wind. They were not there long before they entered a hole in the side of the mountain; a deep, spacious cave that tunneled deep under the mountain they were just walking beside.

To Jadeite's everlasting frustration, it was even colder here.

"When I was a child," the shadow said, his voice echoing off the cold, stone walls, and Jadeite jumped, not expecting any noise from his silent companion, "I heard stories about stones with immense power. With it, a person could obtain limitless potential, and could become like gods among men. They perform miracles, make the impossible possible. When I existed among the living, I dedicated my life to hunting them, just as your kingdom did."

"Like the Silver Crystal?" Jadeite asked, slowly rubbing his hands together to keep warm and watching his breath freeze in the air before him.

The shadow sighed. "Yes. The Silver Crystal is one of these."

"My Queen…my kingdom was obsessed with finding it. To revive-"

"Metalia," he inserted, and the blue eyed man nodded. "When in the right hands, these crystals can easily revive the dead."

"Is that why you're after it?" Jadeite asked, and the shadow froze. "To come back to life?"

"I…I am not after the Silver Crystal," he whispered, a distinct edge of sadness and loss in his voice. "It is a lost cause to chase down that crystal. It is nothing but a path of madness. So many have needlessly lost their lives trying to obtain it when it is impossible."

"Is that how you died?"

"I am not dead, not really," he stated matter of factly. "My body is still a living thing somewhere. I sacrificed my heart to save my life, and as a result, my soul was torn to pieces. It took me many years to recover, but I have enough to return to my body. I need one of these crystals to help me anchor my soul to my body again."

"So," Jadeite said, thrusting his hands into his pockets, relaxing without meaning to do so as the air got warmer. "We're doing all this to get your body back?"

"More or less, yes."

"So…did this happen to you because you were after the Silver Crystal?"

The man sighed, a sad, hollow thing that pulled at the general. "Yes. I wanted power, and I wanted glory, and I thought the Silver Crystal was the only way to get it. It was only after I was ripped to pieces that I realized it was an impossibility. It is anchored to Sailor Moon. Nobody else can touch it."

"So what are we after?" Jadeite asked, processing all the information and making mental notes to ask about other things at a later date.

"I have hunted down another crystal that is of equal power. We are after that."

"Alright. To what end?" Jadeite asked, and the shadow wavered. "I'm willing to bet you're not doing this for the love of life. Why go through all this just to live again?"

"Let's just focus on the task at hand," the red eyed man said sadly, and Jadeite fell silent, a tug of something he could not recognize where a compassionate heart should have been.

They continued on in silence for just a little while longer, the biting cold becoming much more temperate. The blond began to feel a tightening in his chest, a tremendous anxiety that gradually built until he had worked himself into a panic, a change of state that did not go unnoticed.

"Shall we stop for a moment? You do not look well," the shadow said, and the poor blond began to openly hyperventilate.

"I've been here before!" the man cried, trembling and grasping his head and trying to stave off an overwhelming sense of terror.

"Yes, you have," the shadow said quietly, but his voice seemed to echo in the spacious, massive room none the less. "It's your old home. This is all that remains of the Dark Kingdom."

Jadeite groaned and squatted down close to the floor. "Beryl is…she's dead, right?"

"Yes. The Dark Kingdom is little more than ruins now. Beryl, Metalia, and all their soldiers, for the most part, are dead."

"I feel…I feel like it's-it's not gone," the general stammered, suddenly feeling cold again despite the temperate air. "I still feel dark energy, it…it's…"

"It takes a while for so much dark energy to dissipate," the shadow said, seeming to become more vibrant and more solid in the presence of such darkness. "And there are still some here perpetuating the energy as well."

"Youma?" the general asked, swallowing as he stood on shaky legs.

The shadow seemed to beam with a crafty, smug demeanor. "I don't know. Shall we find out?"


	11. Chapter 9

It was entirely white. She felt as though she was lying on the ground, but it was impossible to distinguish it from the walls or sky or horizon or anything else. It was merely a place entirely whitewashed, a place of nothingness. All there was in this empty place was Ami and the boy, sitting with his back to her, his arms wrapped around his bent knees.

"Hey!" she called, pushing herself up and running toward him, a distance she seemed to cover remarkably fast. She knelt in front of him, and he lifted his head up, his bright red eyes locking with her blue, and she shivered.

"I don't know what to do," the man whimpered, burying his head in his arms and shaking.

"Here, I'll help you," Ami said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I'm Ami. What's your name?"

"You're the senshi Mercury," he said, looking at her again, and she quickly removed her hand from his shoulder.

"How…how did you-"

"They're trying to kill me. They're using a demon. And the others, they came for me too."

"Wait, wait," Ami said, quickly overwhelmed by the boy. "Start over. Who is after you?"

"There are two. One with crescent moons on their forehead, and one I don't know."

Ami gasped. "From Nemesis? Do you know if they are from a planet called Nemesis?"

"I…I don't know."

"Why would they be trying to kill you?"

"They are fighting each other. They _hate_ each other, and I have what they need to crush the other."

"What is it?" Ami asked, and the boy shuddered, nearly shutting down completely. "How did you get it?"

The man shook again. "It was locked inside me a few years back. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"And they need you?"

The blond man laughed harshly. "No, I'm worthless. They just want this thing I carry. As soon as they get me, they'll kill me to get it." He paused, red eyes raking over her. "And if they don't get me, they'll come for you. You carry it too."

This time, Ami froze, looking over the man's smirking, cynical face. "Wait…what is it? What do I have? What do they want?"

The boy shuddered and looked sympathetically at the girl who shared his fate. "It is the thing that lays dormant in both of us."

"But _what_ is it?"

The blond's jaw clenched, and his entire being seemed to tighten. "It's the Heart of the Night, a stone of tremendous power that draws from the well of darkness." He spoke softly, but each word landed harsh and loud upon Ami's ears, each passing moment filling her with a growing sense of dread, her eyes wide and her breath frozen in her chest.

"I have no such thing," she gasped, and the young man scoffed.

"You do not need to recognize it's there for it to be there. You can deny it all you like, but the Dark Crystal is in you."

"No, no I…I'm not evil, I can't have it," she cried, tears brimming in her eyes. "All I have ever done is fight for justice; I _can't_ have an object of darkness inside me."

The man sighed, loosening his grasp on his legs. "I can't say anything about what it's going to be like when it awakens, but when it's dormant, it doesn't actively effect your actions."

Ami's kind kicked into high gear, and she began thinking furiously, quickly processing all of this. "Alright, let's assume you're right and I do have the Dark Crystal. All I need to do is ensure that it stays dormant, right?"

"Yeah, uh, I guess. I'm not an expert," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "I was sort of thrown into this. I only just started figuring it out."

"Well," she said, sitting on the ground next to him, "we can figure it out together. The senshi will protect you. We won't let anyone kill you."

He sighed, softly smiling. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank you," the blue haired girl insisted. "What did you say your name was?"

He suddenly became uncomfortable and looked away from her. "It's Serafim."

Ami cocked her head to one side. "Serafim? You're not from around here, are you?"

He shook his head. "No, I'm here on an exchange program for school."

"My best friend's boyfriend spent some time away on an exchange program. Your Japanese is excellent; I wouldn't have guessed that you're not a native speaker."

"Thanks, I've studied very hard." He sighed, looking tremendously sad for a moment. "I got a lot better once the Dark Crystal was put in me."

"Who put it in you?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Everything just went dark, and I heard a voice in a language I didn't understand. After a while, I started having memories of things that never happened to me." He shrugged. "I started piecing things together after that."

"Well," Ami asked, looking around, "do you know where we are now?"

"Can't say I do."

"Ah well," she sighed, looking around her current surroundings. "Could you tell me what you know? Anything at all?"

He thought for a moment and very slowly said, "I heard something about a kingdom on the moon, but I had no idea what they were going on about."

This got the intelligent senshi's attention. "The Moon Kingdom? Is the Moon Kingdom involved? Are they after you?"

"I…I don't know."

"Are they against the people chasing you? What are their motives?"

"I don't know!" Serafim said frantically, quickly overwhelmed by the interrogation. "All I know is that the people chasing me mentioned them. I don't know their motives, or if they're involved at all. I heard them mention something about a war, but that's it, I swear it!"

Ami considered this, thinking intently for a moment before quickly concluding, "We don't know enough to say anything for certain, but it sounds like forces are out to destroy the Moon Kingdom."

"I don't know what any of that means…" He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry. I don't really know much about any of this. I wish I could be of greater help."

Ami smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure we'll figure it all out in time."

They sat in silence, and for a while, Ami felt a deep pit of dread and sorrow in her heart, and she couldn't help but wonder if all of the fears and doubts and loneliness she had ever felt had come from some deep source of darkness within her.


	12. Chapter 10

He chuckled softly to himself and made himself comfortable, leaning his shadowed form back against the massive throne in the great hall, and Jadeite sat in a corner, glaring at him.

"This is the life, isn't it?" the dark man sighed, his physical form becoming more solid as he absorbed the dark energy that remained in the air.

"Aren't we supposed to be, you know, looking for someone?" Jadeite sneered.

"Aw, what's wrong? Don't like it here?"

"No, I don't!" the young general shouted. "I hate this place, and if I knew we were going to come here and screw around, I would have stayed home!"

"Patience, patience, Jadeite, would I waste my time doing such?" the shadow smirked, great amusement in his voice as he watched the enraged man.

"No, I'm done being patient!" he yelled, pacing back and forth before the throne just as he had done years before. "I thought we were supposed to be looking for someone to help e out, not…shopping for real estate! If I could be home right now, oh, how I would!"

The shadow scoffed. "What's so great about your home anyway?"

"Well, it's comfortable!" the general snapped. "And I kind of like living there!"

"Do you like it?" the red eyed man asked softly.

"Huh?"

"Living like a human. Is it to your liking?"

Jadeite's rage subsided slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so. It's not like living here was; it's a lot more peaceful."

"Doing what we are, that won't last long," he said sharply, and Jadeite seemed to wince.

"No, but I thought that maybe, when it's all over, I could stay there." He smiled slightly, and the shadow glared at him with intense interest. "I…I want to be human. I lived my whole life in the dark, and in the service of others. I want to be free. I want to be able to live without rage and fear and hate in me all the time."

"The senshi would never allow it," he said passionlessly. "They would sooner kill you. You will never be anything more than an enemy to them."

"But maybe."

"The sailor senshi will bring you nothing but death. They have allowed very few to live among them." At this, Jadeite perked up, and he looked at his shadow companion in rapt, hopeful attention. The red eyes narrowed, glaring in disgust at the man's sudden show of hope. "Don't you get any ideas. You don't have any redeeming qualities that the senshi can use to bathe you in light. Your heart is as dark as they come. Exposure to the Silver Crystal would kill you."

Jadeite was not willing to give up that easily. "But others have been allowed to live with them, right? Maybe I-"

"The others were fools!" the shadow snapped, rage and anger seeming to radiate off of him. Very quickly, he reeled himself back, calming himself for the benefit of the suddenly frightened general. "The Silver Crystal isn't the only way to become human, Jadeite. Just as the Silver Crystal can destroy as well as heal, so can the Dark Crystal. If that is what you really wish, continue to aid me and I will make it happen."

The general slowly nodded, still skeptical, but putting his faith in the man that commanded him. "We still need to find who we're looking for," he pointed out, "instead of loafing around here."

The red eyes focused on him, proud and condescending. "Oh, you poor, unfortunate man. Have you not been paying attention? He's been here for nearly ten minutes."

His heart constricted, and Jadeite's innate paranoia took over, and he looked around frantically, and saw nothing, which caused him even more distress. "Who?" he asked, heart pounding and voice high as he once again began to panic. "Where? Where is he?!"

The shadow chuckled. "Calm down, you spaz. He won't hurt you. Yet." Jadeite uttered a high pitched, nervous giggle, eyes wide and darting around the room. "What do you think of Jadeite's desire to become human, hm?" he asked nobody in particular, and the room suddenly became bitingly cold.

"He is a fool, just as he has always been," a deep, heartless voice said, echoing throughout the room, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. Then, materializing out of a flash of pink energy was a tall man with long, straight white hair and cold, menacing pale eyes. Jadeite could do nothing but gawk. "What are you doing here?" he asked, eyes narrowing dangerously as he glared at the shadowed man in his former queen's throne.

"Looking to recruit you, Lord Kunzite," he drawled, and Jadeite's nervous laughter returned, but was soon silenced by a deadly look from the icy general.

"I will have nothing to do with you or your schemes," Kunzite said harshly. "Get out."

"Yes, yes, I agree!" Jadeite nervously agreed. "Come on, let's leave. Forever."

"I liked you better when you were dead, coward," the white haired man growled, and Jadeite shrank back into the shadows, making himself as small as possible. Kunzite looked back to his former comrade's master. "If you know what is good for you, you will leave and let me be."

"Afraid I can't do that, Mon Capitan," he drawled. "You see, little Jadeite over here is working himself into the ground, and we can't accomplish what we need to without more help."

"Then look elsewhere," he snapped, and the cold general teleported away. Jadeite breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well, that went well…" the general sighed. "We should go before we freeze to death."

"Yes…" the shadow contemplated. "Pity, though. I need assistance to get the crystal, and even more so after I have it. A shame, really," he purred, drumming his fingers on the throne. "I would absolutely _need_ to resurrect the dead for suitable warriors for my cause, and your comrades Nephrite and Zoisite are more than ideal…"

There was an immediate flash of pink light and Kunzite reappeared right in front of the throne, looming over the smug, arrogant shadow. "What did you say?"

"Oh, you're not interested!" he insisted flippantly, flicking his wrist as to dismiss the very idea.

"I know from experience that the Silver Crystal brings nothing but death. What has convinced you that what you are hunting will be different?"

The shadow laughed out loud, a cold, hollow thing. "You ignorant creature. The Silver Crystal has the power to destroy, it's true. But it also has great healing powers. After all, it did bring the senshi back from the dead after the battle with your queen." Glancing sideways at the two generals, he checked to make sure he had the attention of the pale eyed man, and sure enough, he was paying rapt attention. "My Dark Crystal has the same power, with a few exceptions."

Kunzite raised an eyebrow and looked at him skeptically. "And what are those?"

The red eyes seemed to dance with an unholy light. "It won't destroy creatures of darkness like us, and more importantly, the senshi are nowhere near it."

Kunzite considered this, put his hand to his mouth and stood in silence for some time. Finally, he asked softly, "And with it, you can bring Zoisite back to me? Like he was before?"

The shadow grinned maliciously; the sadness in his voice, the overwhelming desperation, the hopelessness; this was a man who had lost everything, and in the darkness, had clung to his one light. He had offered the once proud Kunzite all he had longed for, and he knew he had him. Delicately, he offered him his hand. "_Exactly_ how he was before. It will be like you never lost him."

For a second, he hesitated, the struggle and torment clearly visible on his face as he weighed his options. Then, with firm, solid resolve, he grasped the shadow's hand, fingers running into the semisolid, gaseous form of the commanding man.

"I will help you find this. For Zoisite."

"For Zoisite," the shadow affirmed, smiling smugly as his force grew in number.

In the dark corner, Jadeite sighed, a quiet nagging in the back of his mind tugged at him and made him feel as though what he was doing wasn't right.


	13. Chapter 11

"Oh god!" Usagi yelled, running back and forth on a very short path at a dizzying rate. "Oh god, oh god!"

Mamoru stopped what he was doing and rolled his eyes. "Usagi…"

"We killed her!" she cried, letting loose and fully freaking out now that Mamoru was there to be responsible. "We killed Ami!"

"For the hundredth time, she's not dead…" Mamoru sighed in annoyance, his seemingly endless well of patience for his girlfriend running a little thin.

"We killed her!"

"Do we need to call the ambulance?" Minako asked, completely ignoring the spastic princess. "I know he was hurt before, and maybe it's serious. They've been out for a while."

"She's dead!"

"I don't think that's necessary," he said softly, laying a cloth on the blond boy's forehead and digging through his pockets to retrieve his cell phone. "But I am going to call Ami's mother. She'll know the appropriate measures to take. And she should know what happened to her daughter."

"_Oh god!_"

Raye finally snapped. "Alright, we get it! You're an idiot! Is there a good reason for you to be shoving that fact in our faces?"

"At least I feel bad about killing Ami!" the blond retorted, stomping her foot. "You have no heart, Raye!"

"She's not dead!" Mamoru finally shouted. "I keep telling you, she's not dead!" The room fell silent as though someone _had_ died, and they all stared at him, shocked at the sudden show of temper from the typically mild mannered man. Blushing, he quickly dialed a number on his phone and held it to his ear, muttering under his breath, "Well, she isn't dead…"

"I think," Makoto said, breaking the silence, "that if she were conscious, Ami would be, you know, identifying him."

"If she were conscious, she'd still be alive!" Usagi wailed, and Raye instantly tackled her with a battle cry worth of her guardian planet.

"Hello, Miss Mizuno?" Mamoru said into the receiver, covering his other ear and stepping out of the room to escape the ruckus of the two battling girls. Rolling her eyes, Makoto began to search through the blond boy's pockets and pulled out his wallet.

"Hey, what are you stealing from him?" Minako asked as the brown haired girl fingered through the contents of the wallet.

She sighed. "I'm not, I'm checking for an ID or something. Anything to tell us who he is."

"Did you find anything?" she asked, and Makoto shook her head.

"Nothing at all."

"Well, don't worry!" Minako chirped, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder and smiling. "We'll ask him when he wakes up!"

"Yeah, you're right," the tall girl said, smiling back. She closed the wallet and placed it back in the pocket where she found it, the cloth falling off his forehead in the process. Carefully, she placed the damp strip of fabric back on his brow, and for just a second, she thought she saw the faint outline on his pale skin of a dark crescent moon.


	14. Chapter 12

His hijacked shadow had been returned to him, and Jadeite felt a lot better for it, as though it kept him anchored to reason and prevented him from experiencing his frequent bouts of panic and paranoia. However, this didn't keep him from being extremely agitated at his new roommate. He hadn't been there for ten minutes before Kunzite took over the entire flat, cranking the thermostat down as low as it could go and claiming the master bedroom – no, Jadeite's room – as his own. And the little blond had had enough.

"No!" he cried, using his arms to block the much bigger man from entering the commandeered bedroom. "You're either going to turn up the heat, or I'm keeping the room!"

"You don't have any authority to say that," Kunzite growled as he plowed through the smaller man and flopped upon the large, spacious bed.

"Of course I do, I paid for the place!" Jadeite screamed, flinging himself at the icy man and futilely clawing at his leg.

"Think, Jadeite," the older man yawned, effectively ignoring the wrathful teen. "I can't possibly have another room. Where would Zoisite sleep?"

"In the garbage disposal where he belongs," Jadeite drawled, and in the next moment, he found himself flung across the room with a severely bloody nose after a swift and strong boot to the head. "Well fine!" he cried, shooting up from the pile of splintered wood that used to be a dresser, blood running like a river from his nose on to the floor. "Keep it, I don't care! But the heat is going on!"

Jadeite dashed from the room, laughing maniacally, and Kunzite just sighed heavily, rolled his eyes, and sluggishly removed himself from the bed, slowly dragging his feet after his crazed companion.

Suddenly, a dull hum began in the flat, followed by a triumphant, insane cry of victory, and a light, warm breeze drifted across the displeased face of Kunzite; the thermostat had been turned up.

With a growl of annoyance, kunzite approached Jadeite and shoved him aside, his strong, large hand twisting the little knob on the wall all the way down once again, and with a flick of his powerful wrist, removed the device from the wall, the little blond screaming in anguish as his method of controlling the climate was forcibly removed, and the gentle warm breeze once again became frigid and cold.

"You!" Jadeite screamed, thrusting his finger against the other man's chest. "You're ruining my life!"

"You're ruining your own life, fool," Kunzite sneered, thrusting the broken knob into his pocket. "Just as you did before."

"Oh, and you didn't? That why you were sitting around in the ruins of our kingdom, all desperate and alone?"

"You shut up. You don't even know what happened," Kunzite snapped. "At least I'm not chasing the foolish dream of being human. Nephrite did just that and it got him killed."

"I'm sick of being a monster like you! At least humans have feelings, at least they have the ability to feel love, unlike you!"

In a fraction of a second, Jadeite was lifted off the ground and slammed against the wall, Kunzite's dark, powerful hands wrapped around the blonde's slender neck, the pale eyes suddenly bright and aflame with unbridled rage. The teen struggled, kicking his legs and his slender hands attempting to pry off the large hands from his neck to no avail.

"Don't you ever – _Ever_ – say that again," he whispered, his voice dangerous and deep, and Jadeite did his very best to attempt to breathe. "I may not be human, but I loved Zoisite, and only someone with no heart to begin with could even _think_ that we are incapable of love as we are."

Jadeite's movements began to slow, and his clawing became weak and feeble as his chest trembled erratically as he gasped for air he could not get. Kunzite's hands tightened further still. "You're a fool. You may become human, Jadeite, but being human won't give you the heart and feelings you lack. You'll be just as empty as you are now…"

"If this racket keeps up, I'll kill you both."

He felt a sudden squeeze in his heart, and Kunzite dropped the smaller general, struggling as his shadow rose from the ground, taking the form of their master. "I am displeased with you, Kunzite. I retrieved you so that I may have a larger force, not a replacement for my most excellent general Jadeite."

"You are too kind…" Jadeite wheezed softly, lacking the strength to lift himself from his pile on the floor.

"We are to work together if we are to be successful. I chose you because I assumed familiarity would allow you to be a team more quickly. Remember," the shadow drawled, "Zoisite's life depends on it."

"Yes, my lord," the white haired man said, his hand laid over his heart and his head bowed.

"Excellent. I am sure you can make peace with Jadeite."

"I will do my best, my lord…" Kunzite growled, glaring at the coughing man as he wiped blood from his nose.

"And Jadeite?" the shadow asked, and the blond perked up. "If you antagonize Kunzite over Zoisite again, I'll kill you myself."

All the color drained from the young general's face, fearfully nodding as he gently rubbed at his bruised neck.

"Very good, now let's all sit down. We have much to discuss," he said, floating just above one of the armchairs.

The two generals eyed each other warily. "What is it you will have us do?" Kunzite asked, and the red eyed man smirked, his expression proud and not a little devious.

"For now, you two are going to defend the Dark Crystal. I have located our enemy's base, and while I survey their position, I need assurance that the crystal is safe and untouched."

"If we have the crystal," Kunzite growled, "then why are we even here? We can bring Zoisite back now, so what are we waiting for?"

"It's not that simple."

"Why not!" he cried, rage burning in his eyes, and the shadow just laughed.

"Do you know how the Silver Crystal works?" the shadow asked, and Kunzite's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Don't change the subject!" the suddenly dangerous man snarled, and Jadeite scooted away from his comrade.

"Don't insult me, I am not changing the subject," the red eyed creature said softly, and Kunzite suddenly fell silent and complacent; their dark companion suddenly seemed much more dangerous than either of the generals. "The two are directly related, and considering how your existence has been dedicated to finding it, I think it serves as a fair comparison to the Dark Crystal."

Glaring at him warily, Kunzite nodded his assent. "Go on."

"All the crystals that exist, seven in total, lay within the body of the one that possess it," the man started, and the white haired general nodded.

"When we found the Silver Crystal, it had been inside Sailor Moon the whole time," Kunzite growled, crossing his arms and clearly bitter about the whole event. The shadow sneered.

"The royal family of the Moon Kingdom was specially bred to be perfectly in sync with it. The entire history of that lineage has been in possession of it, and that's due partly to their energy signatures being nearly identical to that of the Silver Crystal."

"Because nobody has successfully taken it away," Kunzite muttered bitterly, and the shadow grinned broadly.

"That, my dear general, has nothing to do with it." This visibly caught the icy man's attention, and he uncrossed his arms, leaning in and listening intently. "It is because of this synchronization that the Silver Crystal cannot be touched by a being that is not of the Moon lineage."

"Wait, wait, wait," Kunzite interrupted, eyes bright with a burning anger that lay just under his skin. "My kingdom's entire purpose was to get this crystal and you're trying to tell me that it was absolutely and entirely futile?"

"Yes, that's correct. Even if you managed to get it, it would be no more use to you than any rock upon the ground, albeit a bit prettier." The shadow smirked, red eyes narrowing in hostility and resentment. "Only, and _only_ the Moon lineage can use the Silver Crystal."

"I…I dedicated my life to searching for it," Kunzite said, his voice choking with emotion. "Zoisite died for that crystal, and you're telling me that it was all in vain? That Zoisite died for nothing?"

"Yes," was the cold, distant response, and Kunzite's shoulders slumped in defeat. "But let's be honest here. Zoisite's death was in vain when your kingdom failed, not because the Silver Crystal is untouchable."

"Everything we fought for was meaningless!" Kunzite cried, and the shadow looked at him contemptuously.

"Oh, get over it! It does not matter the reasons since your kingdom failed. Everything you fought for was futile, it's true. But it's because you failed. Nothing else matters in the face of failure, not goals, not motive, not anything."

"We were doomed for failure from the start!" Kunzite shouted, losing the cool demeanor that he so usually possessed. "If it weren't for that, we could have succeeded!"

"So what," he snarled, glaring at the petulant man. "It doesn't matter why. You couldn't even get the crystal anyway, so none of this matters. You _failed_."

The room was tense as the two powers glared dangerously at each other, and it was only then that Jadeite quietly piped in, "Why does some stupid rock have a power output to begin with. I thought only living creatures could have an energy signature."

That immediately eased the tension, as the shadow looked at Jadeite, and Kunzite's shoulders slumped in defeat. "The Silver Crystal, like the others, is a sentient being of limitless power."

"It's…alive?" Jadeite asked, and the shadow merely nodded. "So why does it rest in a human's body?"

"The crystals attach themselves to the host's soul," he said softly. "By doing so, the holder gets the power that the crystal possesses, and in effect, the crystal becomes a living being."

"So…that would mean-"

"It is just as you suspect," he said quickly, cutting the young blond off. "In effect, Sailor Moon is the Silver Crystal. Their energies are identical, and they are forever bound to each other. By its own will, the Silver Crystal cannot be used by anyone but the Moon lineage." He paused to survey his two servants, waiting for any questions that they might have. When none came, he continued. "The Dark Crystal does not function that way. While it too is sentient, it allows itself to attach itself to the soul of anyone who touches it."

"We know where it is, right?" Kunzite said, eyes narrowed indignantly. "So I ask again: why can't we use it now to bring Zoisite back?"

"That," he said, "is where it gets complicated. The Dark Crystal does not discriminate who it will take hold of. But because of this, it tears apart its holder when it's used. Use of the crystal activates its powerful energy signature, and since it is out of sync with the one who uses it, the crystal tears apart the soul it's attached to."

"Why?" Kunzite asked. "Why does this happen?"

"They are two conflicting energies, and when used, they come in conflict." The man shrugged. "It's like trying to fit something that does not belong into an electric socket. You may be able to fit it in, and you will get power out of it in the process, but it is inevitable that one will destroy the other." The red eyes narrowed, focusing on the horrified generals, and he chuckled softly, arms crossed and finger slowly tapping against his arm. "The Dark Crystal will always, _always_ be stronger, and the longer it is used, the more their soul is ripped apart. When the soul is completely destroyed, the crystal takes over the body completely. Eventually, even the power of the Dark Crystal becomes too much for the body and even rips that to pieces."

"So this is all futile," Kunzite whispered. "The Dark Crystal is a stone of death."

The shadow merely grinned. "For most." Looking over his generals, he quietly drawled. "An energy signature identical to the Dark Crystal is immune to these effects and can use it freely. Just as Sailor Moon can use the Silver Crystal."

"And…you can do this?" Kunzite asked softly. The red eyed man nodded.

"I can. I am one of only a handful." His eyes narrowed in sudden irritation, a sense of urgency underlying his mannerisms. "However, the one who now holds it is not one of these. He has not even used it, and it's very presence in his body is beginning to take its toll. We need to act quickly if the crystal is to be safely recovered."

"And what then?" the white haired man scoffed. "You have no body to speak of, and we obviously can't touch the damn thing or you would have had us take it already."

"We are looking for my body currently. Don't worry, we will have it soon. For now, what we must do is focus our forces on making sure the boy is safe and keeping our enemy from the senshi. We cannot have them knowing what he holds. You, Kunzite, for now, will make certain that they keep away from our little friend."

"I can do that."

"Did you tell him they've got a demon?" Jadeite drawled, and Kunzite looked at the smaller man, slight interest in his pale eyes.

"They've got a demon," the shadow repeated. "Think you can handle it?'

He shrugged. "Sure. Not like I'm just some human. I can take a demon on."

"Jadeite, you keep an eye on our boy for now. We need to keep him absolutely safe until we know what assets our enemy has. We don't want them killing him before we have the crystal in our possession."

Jadeite felt his heart sink, and very quickly, in a shaky, mortified voice, he whimpered, "What will happen to him?"

This time, the red eye widened in shock. "What?"

"I…I can't just do this without knowing what's going to happen."

"And why is that, Jadeite? What about this makes you compelled to grow a heart and a sense of morality now?

"I don't know, okay!" He took in a sharp, quick breath and it his lower lip. "What are we going to do once we have it? And that boy, what's going t happen to him?"

"Why do you care?" Kunzite said coldly, glaring at him.

"The boy is dead, regardless of what we do. In the hands of the enemy, he will be sacrificed. In the hands of the senshi, time will rend his soul into nothing."

"And what about us?" Jadeite asked. "Do we have to kill him?"

"Since when do you care about people?" Kunzite scoffed, and the shadow simply glared at him. "You don't need the crystal to become human. You practically are one already."

"If we can retrieve my body first," the shadow drawled smoothly, "then perhaps we can save him. It all depends on how far his soul has degenerated."

Jadeite seemed pleased with this. "And after we get it?"

The shadow shrugged. "I will repay you for your services in the manner you wish. What I do after that is my own business."

"Alright," the blond said, drawing himself up. "I can do what you asked."

"Excellent." With that, he unhanded Kunzite's shadow and returned back into the mirror, once again appearing as a cloaked man, not a mere shadow of something that could have been human. "I am going to our enemy's base to see what we're up against. You two go keep our boy safe. And don't forget," he said swiftly. "At all costs, stay out of sight of the senshi. We are at a disadvantage as it is, since they know and recognize you as enemies. They will be much more likely to attack you and ally themselves with our opponents, and if that happens, quite frankly, we're hosed."

"We will be sure we're not seen," Jadeite said, his fears and doubts washed away as his loyal and ruthless self as he forgot about his desires to be human.

"And if our enemies happen to attack?" Kunzite asked, and the hooded man pondered this for a minute.

"Step in and defend him," he said carefully. "Perhaps a show of defense for a defenseless human will sway the senshi to not fight against us."

"It is a good plan," Kunzite said, pleased with the arrangement.

"Are we ready then?" The two generals nodded, both seeming as lively as they had been years before, and the cloaked man grinned. "Good. Let's go."


	15. Chapter 13

When Ami finally came to, Mamoru immediately put his phone in her hand. "First things first, call your mother and tell her you are alright. She is worried sick."

Groggily, Ami pushed the numbers on the phone, her intelligent but tired eyes slowly roving about the room and taking in her surroundings. She finally managed to focus in on the still unconscious man and quietly asked, "Is he alright?"

"Don't worry, he's fine," he said as he shielded Ami from his ecstatic girlfriend.

"She's back!" Usagi cried, jumping up and down despite Raye clutching her midriff tightly. "Ami's back from the dead!"

"I keep telling you!" the priestess growled through grit teeth. "She's not dead!"

"Not anymore!"

"Not ever! She was _never_ dead!"

In the commotion of Raye and Mamoru keeping the excitable girls at bay and Ami calming her mother over the phone, the blond boy wearily opened his eyes, stirring slightly as the room slowly came into focus. Groaning softly, he gently touched his bruised, sore side where his wound used to be. Noticing the movement out of the corner of her eye, Ami dropped the phone and crawled over to him, leaving Mamoru to quickly retrieve his cell to finish the conversation with Dr. Mizuno.

"Serafim, are you alright?" she asked quickly, helping him to sit up, and he nodded, breath a little ragged. "Just relax; we're going to help you."

"Ami?" Makoto asked, creeping forward a bit. "Do you know this guy?"

"It's complicated…" she muttered, wetting a cloth and tending to the groggy man.

"Is he from your cram school?" Usagi guessed, and his eyes snapped in her direction, focusing instantly and locking on to her big blue eyes.

"Please, help me, Sailor Moon."

The entire room fell deadly silent, and Usagi stepped back, tightly clutching her transformation broach. "Please," he continued, seeming to take no notice in the change of state in the room. "One of the creatures that were after me today was massive. It looked human enough, but it wasn't. Aren't creatures such as these said to fear the Silver Crystal? Please, only you can save me!"

"Just what are you!" Raye asked, stepping forward and standing between him and her leader, transformation pen in hand, ready to defend her princess.

The blond shook, red eyes wide in fear. "Please, I don't want any trouble with you. I just need your help."

"How did you know who I am?" Usagi asked softly, stepping in front of Raye and kneeling before him to get at his eye level, her kindness reflected in her eyes and tone of voice.

"I just looked at you and knew," he said, voice shaking. "I can't really explain it."

"Well," she said, smiling, "what can we do to help you?"

"Usagi," Raye said quickly. "We can't just help him, he's using dark energy! Remember what just happened?"

"But he needs our help!" the blond girl shouted, eyes on fire with a stubborn sense of duty. She turned back to the man and softly asked, "How did you come to use dark energy?"

He was extremely guarded, and he quickly looked at the group of girls and tried to figure out what was going on. "I have no idea what you're talking about…"

"He has the Dark Crystal," Ami interceded, and everyone looked slowly from him to her and back again. Usagi suddenly started laughing.

"Oh Ami! You pick weird times to have a sense of humor. We destroyed the Dark Crystal when we defeated the Doom Phantom, remember?"

"It's true," Serafim said quietly. "I'm in possession of the Dark Crystal."

"That's impossible," Minako strongly asserted, but she quickly looked about the room as though she were suddenly unsure.

"But…but how!" Usagi cried. "We destroyed it!"

"Apparently not," Makoto growled, glaring at the man. "The Silver Crystal reacting, the dark energy, what happened here today…the Dark Crystal can explain that."

"But how do you know you have it?" Usagi asked, growing a bit desperate. "Have you seen it? Do you use it?"

The man shook his head. "I've never used it, and I've never actually seen it, but I do know I have something called the Dark Crystal inside me."

Raye scoffed at this. "You can't say you know you have it if you've never even seen it."

"I don't need to see you transform to know you're Sailor Mars," he snidely remarked, and she glared at him, nearly angrily retorting when Usagi cut her off.

"What are you doing with such a terrible thing!" she asked loudly. "It's very dangerous!"

"I didn't choose to have such a thing."

"Well, what happened?" Minako asked, and he sighed, crossing his arms.

"I was out camping in the woods one night so I could get away from the city and study in peace. I looked up and saw a huge, bright light in the sky that only stayed for a few seconds. Right after it disappeared, right in that spot, I saw a bright point of light." He paused, putting his hand to his chest. "I saw it getting bigger, and too late, I realized it was coming right toward me." He unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt and exposed his chest, revealing a large, deep scar that spidered out across his skin like a windshield broken by a bullet. "It struck me, right here, and I heard a voice speak to me in a language I couldn't understand. Ever since, I've been having blackouts where I have strange visions and memories that aren't mine, and I've been chased nonstop by strange people."

"How long ago did this begin?" Minako questioned.

"About three years ago."

The senshi looked at each other, and Ami quietly said, "That coincides with our battle with the people of Nemesis.

"And after he passed out," Raye added, "I saw a bright light in him. I still don't know what it is, but it could be the Dark Crystal. I saw it in Usagi and Ami too, so I thought it could just be a heart crystal or something."

"And you didn't see anything in Makoto or me?" Minako cried indignantly. "I keep telling you, I have a pure heart! You saw it!"

Raye huffed. I wasn't looking in your direction, you narcissist! You guys were behind me, I wasn't exactly looking around. And I only saw it for a second."

"It's got to be a heart crystal," Usagi said confidently, crossing her arms and nodding. "Ami doesn't have a crystal." Looking about the room, suddenly much more unsure, she asked, "Does she?"

Ami suddenly looked very uncomfortable, and the red eyes of the newcomer settled on her, sympathetic and hurt by the knowledge that she was in pain. "It is possible," Ami said softly, trembling slightly, "that I may have the Dark Crystal too."

"No," Usagi said petulantly, shaking her head. "No, _that's_ not possible. There can't be two Dark Crystals."

"Unless it's in pieces," Makoto offered, but Raye glared at her.

"In pieces or not, Ami doesn't have it. She doesn't use dark energy, and she isn't evil."

"What if she has a different crystal completely?" Minako offered, and the girls erupted into a cadence of agreement.

"I think," Mamoru finally said, "That we're doing a lot of unfounded speculation. Why don't we take a look at what we know for certain?"

There was silence for just a minute, and then the blond man meekly said, "I know there is at least one group that is after me."

"And we know it is because he's in possession of the Dark Crystal, or something very much like it," Ami said quickly. "Though we do not know the reasons they are after it."

"We know that his crystal causes the Silver Crystal to react," Makoto added.

"Ami, Usagi and Serafim all have bright lights in them that may be heart crystals, or may be something else," Raye said, tapping her foot.

The room was silent again for a minute, and when nobody else said anything, Ami crossed her arms, the information quickly piecing together in her mind. "Taking all this into consideration, we have a few important questions that need to be addressed: Who is after the Dark Crystal, and why are they after it? I think we can agree that these are the most important thing to answer."

"But we also must know what the lights Raye saw were," Makoto added quickly. "Because if it is the Dark Crystal like Ami speculated, then we need to know what to do about that."

"And if it is the Dark Crystal in them, how do we get them out?" Minako asked, and the girls muttered their agreement.

"I agree that we need to figure out that too," Mamoru said, "but I think Ami's right in that the enemy is most important. I also think that by finding out about them, we will learn about the rest."

Ami nodded. "I think that's the best course of action. Serafim, can you tell us about who is chasing you?"

"I can't say much because I really don't know anything," he sighed, looking at the ground. "But they said something about a kingdom on the moon and exiles on a dark planet."

Usagi gasped, laying her hands over the Silver Crystal contained in her broach reflexively. "Nemesis? They shouldn't be here! Are they attacking again?"

"I thought the Moon Kingdom was destroyed by Beryl," Minako said, and there was a cadence of agreement from the other girls.

"So the Dark Moon Clan are going after the Dark Crystal!" Usagi cried, and the other girls all began talking, some with agreement and worry and others with disagreement.

"Or," Ami said softly, and the girls instantly quieted down. "Or it's the Moon Kingdom that's after him." The girls were extremely quiet, and after a moment, Mamoru gently cleared his throat.

"We've been told that the Moon Kingdom was destroyed. The Silver Millennium is over."

"Yes," the blue haired girl nodded. "But let's say it wasn't. Let's assume for a moment that when Queen Serenity used the Silver Crystal to revive us and seal the Dark Kingdom away that the attack ended. The royal family died, but I think it's reasonable to assume that the entire population wasn't killed. In that sense, the Moon Kingdom wasn't entirely destroyed, just crippled."

"So…" Usagi said slowly. "The Moon Kingdom is still there?"

"I don't know, but for the moment, I think it's a possibility we have to consider."

"But why would they be after the Dark Crystal?' Makoto asked, and Ami crossed her arms.

"I have a theory, and this is all just speculation, so let's take this with a grain of salt. I think both Nemesis and the Moon Kingdom are involved in this. Without the Silver Crystal, the Moon Kingdom is greatly weakened, so we have to assume the same is true for Nemesis and the Dark Crystal."

"Alright," Mamoru said, nodding slowly. "I'm with you."

"If the Dark Crystal is anything like the Silver Crystal," Ami continued, "then we can assume that Nemian possession of it will be the end of the Moon Kingdom. If a Black Moon Clan really does exist in this time, and they really are after the Dark Crystal, then it stands to reason that the Moon Kingdom will be after Serafim too, not to possess it, but to destroy it to prevent the retrieval of such a weapon by their enemies."

The blond man shuddered, and the girls paled slightly. "So if this is the case," Raye asked softly, "what are we going to do with him?"

"That," Ami said somberly, "is what we need to figure out."


	16. Chapter 14

He was completely alone. Eyes closed and breathing slow and deep, he relaxed, his pale body in stark contrast to the smooth, black surface he lay upon, his skin showing no signs of cold in the frigid hall. The temple was like a mausoleum, cold, lifeless, and silent, and the black stone of the massive chamber was eerily lit by faint, flickering torches that stood along the wall. Just like the tomb it resembled, this place would be the grave of the sacrifice, a noble alter to the one who would give his life for the revival of the Lord of Darkness.

He lay now upon the sacrificial alter, his cunning mind racing and imagining what it would be like for the boy who soon would lay where he now did, a willing sacrifice who would give up his body, heart, mind and soul for the resurrection of the god that lay within him, just as the oracle foretold. The day was fast approaching. It would not be long now…

The silence was disturbed by the soft echoing of feet as they made their way down the aisle, and the man on the alter took a sharp, deep breath, held it for a moment, and forcibly exhaled, attempting to expel his frustration. The echo grew louder as the intruder approached, and it finally stopped, followed by the swift clicking of heels, and his green eyes shot open and focused on the man that now stood by the alter.

"Sir!" the newcomer said, saluting. "We have located the exact coordinates of the boy It appears as though he has found the senshi."

With a sigh, he sat up, dangling his long legs off the edge of the stone slab. "This is to our advantage. We can recruit them to our cause. No doubt they will be willing to fight against those fiends."

"Shall I oversee that, my lord?"

"No. I shall attend to that myself. I would like to make sure that they are aware that we mean them no harm." He rubbed his hands over the smooth surface of the alter, the black stone radiating heat that had come from the white haired man's body. "What of the warrior?"

"We have analyzed his energy signature, my lord, and have determined him to be of the Dark Kingdom."

"Impossible," he drawled. "The Dark Kingdom was destroyed years ago, the senshi saw to that."

"Apparently, that has been marginally reversed, sir. The interceding warrior was Jadeite, the King of the East."

The white haired man was suddenly interested, cocking his head to one side. "Now, who would release that rogue?"

"We cannot say, sir."

"That is your mission," he said dismissively, looking up at the empty shell that hung from the pillar above the alter. "Find and locate the warrior's master."

"And if we see Jadeite again?"

The man shrugged. "Kill him." The soldier saluted his superior once again, and the green eyed man nodded. "Dismissed."

He turned on his heel and marched out of the temple, the echoing of his shoes upon the floor becoming softer and softer until the sound faded away entirely. Sighing and closing his eyes, he moved his hand down the pillar, feeling the cool granite beneath his fingertips. "Tell me," he said softly, looking at the corpse that hung above him. "Are you trying to get in my way?"

From the shadows of the corner, out of sight, a pair of red eyes on a shadowed figure melted back into darkness, vanishing from the room.


	17. Chapter 15

"How did they die?"

"Hm?"

"Nephrite and Zoisite. How did they die?"

Kunzite huffed and crossed his arms. The two generals were sitting high up in a tree on a strong, sturdy branch, the two men having a clear view of the Hikawa Shrine below them form which they surveyed suspicious activity. "Zoisite killed Nephrite. Beryl killed Zoisite," he said emotionlessly, and Jadeite growled.

"But why? Why did it happen?"

The icy general sighed, rubbing his tired eyes. "Zoisite was killed for repeated failures at securing the Silver Crystal. Nephrite was killed for going against Beryl's orders and acting on his own. It was my understanding that it was because of some human."

"I'm sorry," Jadeite said sadly. "About Zoisite. I know how much you cared about him. I kind of liked him too."

"I'll have him back soon." The white haired man closed his eyes, yawning as he leaned against the tree's trunk. "Why do you want to be human so badly?"

"Kunzite, what the hell else am I supposed to do?" Jadeite snapped, but his demeanor was hopeless, as if he were a lost child. "I've got nobody and nothing to go back to. The Dark Kingdom is gone, so all that's left for me is here. How can I live here if I'm not human? I'll be an outsider no matter where I go. And like this, I'm still considered a threat by the senshi, and they will not stop hunting me until that ends."

"I suppose it's a noble idea," Kunzite said softly. "But in your desire to be human, don't lose yourself in the process. Faking feeling as you did before does not make you human, and nor does it make those emotions real. It will only make you emptier in the end."

"I don't need you to tell me that…"

"Perhaps you should ask our master what to do," the pale eyed man suggested. "I'm sure he'll have an idea of how to help you."

"Well, what about you?" the younger man asked. "You're in the same boat. The senshi will kill you if you're not human. What will you do when it's all over?"

The icy general shrugged, breathing deeply as he relaxed. "Simple. I will continue to follow him. No doubt getting the crystal is only the beginning. And I suppose in the end, I will end up with him in a place away from the senshi and their ridiculous war against the creature of darkness." The cold man opened his eyes, squinting against the sun as he looked over the temple grounds. "Let us remember, our master isn't human either."

"And you're willing to give up the light to fit in?"

"You can't hate the dark if you've lived your whole life without the knowledge of light. I will not reject who I am so that I may be accepted by a group of girls who I despise."

"I hate the senshi too," Jadeite said softly. "But I think that being made human is going to help the rage and anger go away. It's eating me alive, Kunzite, and I don't know how much longer I can take it."

"You listen to me, Jadeite," the pale eyed man said sternly, coming across as a father figure to the younger teen. "Being human? It's not going to change that. All that will change is that you'll be powerless. Your hopes, your fears, everything that you are will stay. And then you will truly be alone."

"I'll…I'll have other humans…"

"Who will never understand you, creature of the dark. You will be even more of an outsider than before because you can't even be together with your own people."

"So what should I do?" the blond general asked frantically, and the larger man rolled his eyes.

"Don't think about it," Kunzite growled. "It's getting in the way of you doing your job. Just do what's necessary and decide later." He stopped and glared at the man for a moment. "And all this human talk is making you pathetic. Knock it off."

"Hey!" the blue eyed man shouted. "At least I didn't sit around moping in a frozen cave for years!" The much larger man smirked slightly, and it only served to make Jadeite angrier.

"See, Jadeite, this is you. Foolish and hot tempered. Brooding just doesn't suit you."

Jadeite sat and thought about this for a moment. "But I've been feeling that what we're doing just isn't right."

"You're also paranoid and neurotic," Kunzite drawled. "You're just nervous. Relax."

Finally, Jadeite's tense shoulders relaxed, and he laughed softly. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I'll ask what to do about it later."

Kunzite closed his eyes and huffed. "Took you long enough, idiot."

"I'm going to put glass in your food if you don't watch it…" Jadeite's eyes fell on a man walking up the steps of the shrine, and he quickly nudged his comrade in the ribs. "Hey, look there."

He lazily opened one of his pale eyes, and as soon as he focused on the figure that Jadeite was indicating, his eyes shot open and he stared intently at the tall, strong man. "I've seen him."

"Yeah," the King of the East said slyly. "We fought against him when we attacked the Moon Kingdom."


	18. Chapter 16

The senshi had only just begun debating when a tall man had slowly slid the door open, his green eyes examining the room. The girls fell deathly silent, rendered immobile as they gazed at the gold crescent moon that marked his forehead.

"Can we help you?" Mamoru managed to slowly ask, and the man smiled at him.

"Yes, actually. I am new to this city, and I am a bit lost. I am looking for the sailor senshi." His eyes slowly raked over the room, and came to rest on Serafim, warily hiding behind Ami. "I have to warn them of what is coming."

"Uh, what's coming?" Mamoru stammered, trying to buy the girls time to recover.

"Who _are_ you!" Usagi managed to exclaim. "Are you from the Moon Kingdom?"

The white haired man smiled kindly. "You must be Sailor Moon. You are exactly in the image of our former princess." He bowed slightly, his hand held over his heart. "I am Alkaios, the late Queen Serenity's general and the current defender of the glorious Moon Kingdom."

"You…you rule the Moon Kingdom?" Usagi ventured cautiously, and the man nodded.

"I am the de facto ruler, yes. Our queen and our princess are dead, and it took us nearly a thousand years to rebuild." His face darkened, jaw clenching tightly. "The Dark Kingdom nearly destroyed everything. They killed the senshi and our queen, and the Silver Crystal that had blessed our land since the beginning of time was lost to us. He sighed, a pained expression on his face, and the senshi looked at him intently, waiting on baited breath for him to continue. "Our battle with the Dark Kingdom ended three years ago when the Silver Crystal resurfaced, but the war was far from over."

"With Chaos?" the young Moon Princess asked. "We fought the Doom Phantom and Pharaoh 90 and Nehellenia and Galaxia in the past few years too. Did you fight them too?"

The green eyed man smiled sympathetically. "No, we were spared those battles, because we have neither the Silver Crystal, nor any senshi, though Nehellenia may have been our doing. Our campaign to drive the darkness from our home may have made her seek out the power of the Golden Crystal to fight back against us." He bowed again. "For that, we are deeply sorry. We could not forsee the consequences of our actions."

"You don't have to be sorry for that!" Usagi sympathetically declared. "It's alright, we beat her. You were just doing what you needed to do!"

"Yes, to keep the Moon Kingdom safe," he sighed, his bright green eyes focused on the reincarnated Moon Princess. "Just as I am doing now." The tone of voice made Serafim shrink back, instinctively grasping Ami's arm for security. "The Dark Kingdom crippled us, and in our moment of weakness, the rebels of Nemesis attacked us and attempted to take our kingdom as their own."

"The Black Moon Clan?" Raye asked, stepping forward and trying to make sense of this. "But they're not supposed to exist yet, not until the rise of Crystal Tokyo."

Alkaios smiled. "You speak of the future of our kingdom. Have you had contact with them?"

"Yes. The Black Moon Clan attacked the future too," Makoto said, crossing her arms. "The Moon Princess from that time came here to us to seek help, and they followed."

"But we were told they came to be when the Serenity of the future exiled rebels from Earth," Minako added, and the other girls muttered in agreement.

"You were deceived," Alkaios said softly, green eyes boring into Serafim's red ones for just a second before returning to the senshi. "The Black Moon Clan, the humans of Nemesis, came to be hundreds of thousands of years ago when the people of the Moon first united the other planets into one kingdom, with Serenity at its head." He lifted his head proudly, a grand display of arrogance and superiority. "Before the Grand Unification, there was no strength in our system. All we were was a string of independent nations it was Serenity VIII who shaped and molded us into a great and powerful empire. With the power of the Silver Crystal, Serenity drove the darkness from the land and united us all under a banner of light."

"Wow…" Usagi gasped, awed at the history of her family. "The Silver Crystal's extremely powerful."

"And more so, yes," Alkaios purred proudly. "It was in this time that those who rejected the light of the Moon were exiled to the dark planet of Nemesis, and these renegades became the Black Moon Clan." His face darkened, and the Moon Kingdom general fixed his gaze on the blond man once again. "The joined forces with the natives of Nemesis, a race of demons, and they gained access to the Dark Crystal. Since then, we have been in nearly constant conflict with those savages. However," he said slyly, looking at Serafim as a predator gazes at its prey, "we now have an advantage, and our strategy has changed. They have lost possession of the Dark Crystal."

"So they are powerless now?" Raye asked, and the general shook his head.

"No. They have spent so long in the dark and exposed to that crystal that they can no longer be called human. They are difficult bastards to kill, especially without the Silver Crystal." He grinned sinisterly, a sentiment that was lost on the rapt senshi, but not lost to the injured Serafim. "Now that they have lost the Dark Crystal, they are panicking. This is our chance to strike. We cannot allow them to regain the crystal, so our objective now is to find the crystal and destroy it. It will cripple their force permanently and end this senseless conflict."

The senshi all slowly looked toward Serafim, who only shrank further behind the blue haired girl, feeling like a mouse in a room of snakes. "It is my understanding," Alkaios said softly, "that your boy there is in possession of the Dark Crystal."

"That's what he said," Minako said breathlessly, and Ami inhaled sharply, listening intently to what happened next.

"In that case," the man said softly, "we have a few options. First, we take him and lock him away where the Nemian bastards can't reach him. Secondly, we can simply extract the crystal from him." He glared at the uncomfortable man hiding behind the wary Ami, and he quietly said, "Or we kill him, and within him, the crystal dies."

The senshi gasped, and Ami reflexively laid her hand over Serafim's, her chest dully pulsating with the power that she felt lay within her. "No, we can't just kill him!" Usagi cried, and Alkaios looked at her critically.

"Well, would you rather the Solar System be thrust into darkness? Is it better that everyone suffers?" The senshi fell silent, and the green eyes roved over the girls. "You have a choice to make. Kill one man to save the lives of an untold number, to secure the future!" His eyes narrowed as he watched them, a faint smile on his lips as he watched fear and doubts mark their features. "Do this, and the future will be safe from attack, safe for your children." This seemed to strike a chord in their fearless leader and Alkaios smiled, cruel eyes focused on a trembling Serafim. "What's one man in the face of billions?" He shrugged. "So, Sailor Moon, what shall you do?"


	19. Chapter 17

"We are _so_ shafted," Jadeite angrily huffed, pacing the apartment and punching the buttons on the home phone. "What are we going to tell the boss, huh?"

"That Sir Pretty Boy is a smooth talker and has wormed his slimy self up to the senshi," Kunzite said, arms crossed and face stern and serious.

"Hello?" the blond said harshly into the receiver. "I need my thermostat fixed."

"There must be some way we can work this to our advantage…"

"My address? Tokyo."

"We didn't really lose anything, did we?" Kunzite mused, sitting on the couch and pondering.

"What the hell kind of idiot are you! I live in Tokyo!"

"It's not like we weren't already their enemies, so it stands to reason that they'd become allies. Enemy of their enemy and all."

Jadeite rushed to the door and swiftly swung it open, very quickly snapping, "Ten twenty-seven Tokyo."

"Our lord must have a solution…"

"Listen, you worthless human!" Jadeite shouted, face red as he lost his very short temper and slammed the door. "I told you where I live, now fix my goddamned thermostat!" There was a brief pause before Jadeite yelled, "We'll have you euthanized in the new world order!" and threw the phone across the room, the device flying to pieces on impact. In a huff, he tossed himself on the couch next to his roommate.

"Doing alright there?" Kunzite asked, and Jadeite growled in seething anger.

"What the hell is an address!" he cried and Kunzite looked at him oddly.

"Did you tell him the number on the door?"

"Yes!"

Kunzite scoffed. "Humans are clearly incompetent and idiotic."

"Kill me if I ever become one."

"Oh, don't worry, I will." He paused for a second and looked in the corner, then softly said, "I guess we're going to have to get the phone fixed too."

He waved his hand dismissively, sighing tiredly as he said, "Don't worry, I'll call tomorrow."

"Change of plans, boys."

Both men perked up and moved closer together on the couch as their cloaked and hooded master appeared in the mirror before them. "Tell me what you know."

"We stayed hidden as you asked," Kunzite reported. "This asshole showed up, but he is not aggressive toward the senshi, and it looked like they were considering killing the guy we need."

"And our friend? What did he look like?"

"Displeased, sir. He looked nervous and wary," Jadeite said softly. "He won't go easily with this guy."

The red eyes glinted. "Perfect."

The two men squirmed uncomfortably under the gaze of the hooded man in the mirror. Quietly, Kunzite slowly asked, "So, what do we do about the senshi?"

The man scoffed, flicking his wrist as though to dismiss the very idea. "The senshi are no longer an issue."

"Can we kill them?" Jadeite trembled, voice tense and charged with excitement.

"No, Jadeite. The senshi are no longer a threat to us, but we can still use them." The man folded his arms, quickly tapping his foot. "If the senshi are at all the same as before, they will do everything they can to prevent harm to our boy. It is only a matter of time before they begin to fight against our dear enemy."

"So we are right back where we started," Kunzite growled, and the red eyes shone with excitement.

"Not quite, my friend. It is true that the situation between the senshi and these rogues is at a stalemate, but our situation is now quite different."

Kunzite's eyes suddenly lit up, and a small, sly smile marked his face. "My lord, what did you see at their base?"

A faint smirk could be seen from under the red eyed man's hood. "Our enemies have my body."

"What!" the blond general cried, blue eyes wide and angry. "That's bad, we're totally screwed!"

"On the contrary," he said softly. "It gives us one less thing to collect. All we need to do now is deliver the crystal to them."

The generals were silent for a moment and looked at each other quizzically, unsure of how insane their leader had gone. Finally, Kunzite asked, "And…we want that?"

"Oh yes. Our friends from the moon are officially our pawns, boys, but we must be careful, as they are still dangerous. If we look away for just a second, we could lose everything."

"So…what are we going to do?" Jadeite asked softly.

The hooded man grinned. "We're going to attack the senshi."

"Oh, _yes_!"

"I thought that was a bad idea," Kunzite said, eyebrow raised quizzically.

"This is a risk we need to take," the man drawled. "We are not looking to kill them, just to draw them away long enough to have access to our little golden boy."

A sly grin crossed Jadeite's face. "Are we going to take him?"

"Far better than that. Go, boys. Cause havoc."


	20. Chapter 18

Alkaios returned to his palace, the towering and brilliant Moon Palace shimmering brightly, a grand display of its former glory that had taken years to rebuild. He marched into the throne room and dropped onto the large, crystal quartz throne, tense and contemplative. He had done what he had intended, but really, there was no way he could have lost. If the senshi trusted him, than they would hand him over without question; if they did not, they would keep him from getting killed. Regardless, Alkaios won, but he was still angered by the turn of events. The senshi had held their resolve, headed by a proud and noble Sailor Moon. The death of the boy was out of the question; they would fight to defend him, no matter what the cost. This was not what he had planned, and it would be impossible to take the boy so long as he was with them.

The course was clear: the senshi needed to die.

With an irritated sigh, he lightly tapped the brilliant crystal on the arm of the chair. In a strong, harsh voice, he snapped, "Where is the Tenth?"

The stone lit up a moment afterwards, and a coy, sultry female voice answered, "He's studying up on the Dark Kingdom with the Third. Shall I summon him for you?"

"No, I will go to him," he sighed, his irritation lessening slightly. "Where are they?"

"In the debriefing room, my lord."

"Thank you. If you will, inform the others to be ready to be summoned, if necessary."

"I shall make sure of it."

Alkaios once again tapped the crystal, cutting off communication and he stood, swift and delicate feet falling nearly silently on the cold white floor as he quickly moved through the corridors of the palace. He only stopped once, looking out over a large balcony toward a towering black temple that stood on the hill overlooking the palace. It had taken decades to build it because of a strong resistance from the people, but increased assaults on their home by the Nemian armies eventually wore down the resolve and hope of the defenseless people, and Alkaios managed to push for the acquisition of the Dark Crystal, both to cripple the invading force and to defend the land abandoned by the Silver Crystal. The temple was built as the plan was formulated, and it now stood as a reminder of their objective and the promise of power they would soon come to possess.

With a sigh, he tore himself away, his gait a bit slower, more relaxed and confident as he strolled down the corridors toward the debriefing room. The door opened and let a single shaft of light into the darkened room lit only by the glow of humming computers and crystals. At the far end of the room, huddled around a blinking screen, were two men, one a small, scholarly man who looked absolutely diminutive next to his large, demonic comrade.

Upon seeing the white haired man enter the room, the demon quickly stood, wincing slightly and gripping his side, tender with bruising from his conflict with Jadeite. Alkaios waived his hand, pointing back at the chair.

"Sit down, Geryon." The behemoth sat down slowly, his lithe companion eyeing the green eyed man as he came closer.

"I've run the analysis on the data you sent me," the pale man said intelligently. "It's definitely our boy. The Dark Crystal is in him."

Alkaios nodded, crossing his arms. "How much time do we have?"

The brown eyed man shook his head, sighing heavily as he lay back. "Not much. The crystal has been completely fused with him. We might have two weeks before he is dead and the crystal overtakes him. We'll all be destroyed if that happens."

The white haired man frowned, eyes narrowing in severe displeasure. "Is there any way we could hold him off if this happens? Surely he cannot last long in that body. Can we retrieve the crystal when the body wastes away?"

The intelligent man chuckled at this. "We would never be able to survive. And even if we did, it will fuse with the first person that touches it. It's far too dangerous."

Alkaios groaned in frustration, rubbing his temples to stave off an oncoming headache. "So we have two weeks?"

"At maximum."

"Humph. I expected a bit more time. We need to act quickly."

"I found a few other things." With a wave of his hand, one of the crystals lit up, and the screen of the computer was projected in the air before their white haired leader. The brown eyed man stood up and came to stand next to Alkaios, and with a few quick flicks of his wrist, the faces of Minako, Raye and Makoto were displayed. "It appears as though these girls have identical energy signatures to our lost senshi, rest their souls."

"Interesting…" he said softly, eyes quickly running over the hologram. "Is it possible that our senshi were reincarnated?"

"It seems to be a fair assumption, yes." Moving his hand swiftly through the air, he selected the image of Usagi and brought it to the center, enlarging it as the other images minimized to the corner of the projection. "Given that assumption, this is our Moon Princess."

At this, Alkaios frowned, crossing his arms in displeasure. "I thought she looked like her. That explains why we could not find the Silver Crystal with Serenity's body. She used it to bring the senshi back to life. But why send the crystal away? Did Serenity find us so unworthy that she would deprive us of what is rightfully ours?"

"So what do we do? If she is, in fact, the Moon Princess, then we need to relinquish control to her. With the Moon Princess back on the throne, the Silver Crystal will be returned to us."

"She is no Moon Princess," the white haired man growled, tapping his foot on the ground. "It does not seem that she will lend us her aid. And let us not forget why we seek the Dark Crystal in the first place."

The response that came back was a monotonous mantra, the two men speaking in perfect unison. "Because the Silver Crystal abandoned us in our time of need. Because the Dark Crystal is not an enemy of the people of Light. Because to crush our enemies, we must fight darkness with darkness."

"May the God of Darkness give us the power we need to eradicate those who oppose us, and may the soul of our grand Serenity VIII shine upon us and guide our actions," the leader said regally, and the two other men reverently touched the crescent moon on their foreheads. "We will return the Silver Crystal back to its rightful place in due time. If Earth's Sailor Moon is unwilling to aid us in the destruction of those Nemian barbarians, then she is nothing more than a traitor and must be eradicated. The Silver Crystal has no business in the possession of some little girl. Regardless, we cannot touch it as it is now anyway. We can seize it when the Dark Crystal is ours."

"Well, we need to move quickly," the brown eyed man said softly, his hand moving through the air and putting away the picture of Sailor Moon, replacing it instead with the image of Sailor Mercury. "This one here is going to ruin our plans if we do not act now."

Alkaios cocked his head to the side, examining her features and swiftly reading the analysis and statistics in the text that scrolled in the margin. "Her?"

"Do not be fooled. She is deceptively strong, and if we allow it, she will come into her own." With a flick of his wrist, he cleared the bottom of the screen of the images of the other senshi and opened a series of files. Quickly flipping through them, he pulled up one marked with a black crescent moon, and sifting through it quickly, he selected a single image and with a swift flick of his wrist, he placed the image next to the Mercury senshi. The sharp green eyes of their militaristic leader quickly darted from one face to the other, glaring intently at the two.

"I have to ask, Cerynitis," he asked the man softly. "Is this girl here," he indicated at Ami, "just one of those randomly selected to be a senshi? Mercury has not had a senshi for a very long time."

"I'm afraid not," Cerynitis said solemnly. "My analysis shows that this girl, Ami Mizuno, is the reincarnation of…that," he sneered, pointing at the other image.

"Sailor Nemesis," Alkaios growled, face darkening considerably.

"The senshi's father was of Mercury. It seems that side of her is what is being expressed now."

"I had thought we killed her…" the white haired man said dangerously. "Why would the Silver Crystal resurrect that devil, and not our fair queen? We have truly been abandoned." He paused, breath held as he intently gazed at the image of the senshi emblazoned with the insignia of the Black Moon Clan. "Is it possible that we have killed her Nemian lineage? Did we destroy the dark side of her when we struck her down? Could the Mercurian be free now that the demon side is dead?"

The brown eyed man chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I doubt it. We picked up dark energy readings from her. She may be Mercury now, but it is only a matter of time before the Dark Crystal awakens and transforms her."

"Are you certain she is the other half?"

"On my life, it is so."

"Geryon, come here," Alkaios said sternly, and the towering man came before his master, yellow eyes on fire with loyalty. "Look here, closely. Examine this girl here, this senshi," he firmly directed, pointing at the image of Ami, and his yellow eyes raked over her delicate form. "Do you have her memorized?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Good. I need you to lure the senshi away from the boy, you understand? I will collect him when they are away. Go now, do this."

"It is as good as done, my lord," the demonic man said, his voice tense with excitement.

He turned to leave, his long stride carrying him quickly to the door, but he was stopped suddenly when Alkaios, his voice sweet but cruel, said, "Oh, and Geryon? This senshi, Mercury. When you see her, make sure this fight is her last."

With a quick flash of his razor sharp fangs, the demon departed for Earth.


	21. Chapter 19

The senshi had adjourned for the evening to give them all a chance to mull over the tremendous amount of information that was thrust upon them that day. So much had happened, and so much of it was deeply personal, and the girls needed a chance to feel out where they stood. Ami took custody of Serafim, since he made it very clear it he was rather inseparable from her, and she gladly took on the duty of defending the bearer of the Dark Crystal.

Tiredly rubbing her eyes, she opened the door to her spacious condominium and she was instantly attacked by her mother, barraged by hundreds of questions about her health and what had happened. After a quick examination and writing off the day's events as a result of low blood sugar from forgetting to eat, the doctor dismissed her daughter, hugging her tightly and gently reprimanding her about the importance of regular meals, to which Ami promised to be more careful about, and she was sent on her way.

The blue haired girl opened the door to her bedroom and ushered her companion inside, quickly shutting the door behind them. With a great sigh, Ami dropped into her desk chair. "What a day…"

"I'm sorry," Serafim said softly, and Ami quickly brushed him off.

"Nonsense, it's not your fault. You're just caught up in the middle of all this." She looked him over quickly and felt a twinge in her heart as he stood sadly, head bowed, and she indicated toward the bed. "Please, sit down."

He uneasily glanced in the direction she was indicating, and he flushed slightly. "Am I allowed?"

"Yes, of course."

The red eyed man quickly nodded and seated himself on the bed, feet firmly planted on the floor and body as stiff as a board as he faced the intelligent woman. "Thank you for allowing me in your home."

"You don't need to thank me for that, it's my pleasure to have you," the blue eyed girl said sweetly, smiling for a minute before she sighed heavily, her features tired and worn. She shifted in her desk chair, crossing one slender ankle over the other and quietly asked, "What do you think of all this?"

"I'm scared of the man we saw today," the blonde said firmly. "He couldn't stop looking at me, and…and I saw it in his eyes, he wants to kill me."

"He listed other options," Ami said softly, a faint smile playing across her face. "Your death was not his prerogative."

"No, listen to me!" Serafim said frantically, loudly, and the senshi of wisdom watched his wide, frightened eyes intently. ""He may have said other things, but he wants to kill me. After Sailor Moon said that he couldn't kill me, he didn't even mention alternatives, he just gave reasons why I _had_ to die!" He was trembling now, his long fingered hands tightly gripping the covers on the girl's bed and the light from the moon outside made his red eyes appear all the more frantic. "Please, don't let him mislead you. I need your help. How am I going to do this alone?"

Ami was silent for a while, her hand at her chin as she stared blankly at the wall, her sharp mind working furiously to organize her thoughts and make sense of things that she simply could not yet comprehend. Finally, after several minutes of weak pleading from the man that fell on deaf ears, Ami finally said, "I am glad you saw that too. I am not sure they are to be trusted." Serafim breathed a sigh of relief, and Ami tapped her fingers against the back of the chair, biting her lip for a moment while she contemplated the situation. "I'm a little torn, to be honest. The Moon Kingdom is a force for good, and I do believe he was telling us the truth about the war with Nemesis and the origins of the Black Moon Clan. But a great deal of his implications don't make sense, and he raised a great deal of questions that we need to answer before we have any dealings with him."

"So…" the red eyed man said slowly, his guard up. "You're going to help him?"

"If the Moon Kingdom is being attacked, then I think, as senshi, we have a duty to help defend it," she said, but her voice was distant and aloof, almost as though it was an automated response, not the usual clear and measured words that left her lips. "It doesn't make sense. If he could just extract the crystal from you, why would he need to kill you?" She spent a moment in complete silence before her eyes shot open, wide with revelation, and she held her breath, alerting and worrying the tense Serafim.

""What, what's wrong?" he asked, swiftly jumping from his place and laying a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"If the Silver Crystal breaks, Sailor Moon will die, right?" the young senshi said quickly, and Serafim looked at her, dumbfounded and unable to really follow.

"Uh, I guess?"

"It stands to reason that it is because her life is entwined with it. And by that reasoning, if she dies, the crystal will be destroyed as well. It is purely conjecture, but I think it makes sense that one cannot exist without the other."

"Oh?" he questioned, but only a second later, his eyes lit up with understanding. "Oh…"

"It doesn't matter if the crystal is removed or not," she said solemnly. "If this is true, when the crystal is destroyed, you will die."

Serafim dropped back on the bed, a knot in his stomach and feeling as though his chest were empty. "I can't just give it back, can I?" he said lifelessly. "So if you help the Moon Kingdom, I'm going to die…"

Ami looked intently at the floor, counting on her fingers as she muttered quietly to herself. "We can do both," she said softly. "We can help them by keeping you safe. Guarding you will have the same effect as killing you so long as you are out of enemy hands. I think that's a fair compromise."

"You would do that for me?" he asked, and Ami smiled sweetly.

"Of course. It's our job to triumph over evil, and keeping the Dark Crystal away from those who will use it to hurt others constitutes that. And we simply can't do that if we're willing to kill to get the job done, that makes us no better than our enemies." She paused a second to take a deep breath, and the man looked at her, red eyes soft and longing, the intelligent girl completely oblivious in the intellectual brainstorming. "The end does not justify the means. What we do means nothing if we are willing to do horrible things to get there."

"I hope the others agree."

"I know they will. Sailor Moon has already decided to defend you, and once she has her heart set on something, it is impossible to change her mind. Remind me, though. I must ask Luna about the nature of the crystals; that is the key to solving this problem."

They were quiet for some time, each absorbed in their own thoughts, and very cautiously, Serafim ventured, "What are you studying in school?"

"Hm?" Snapped out of here revere, the thoughtful woman had her full attention back on her slightly flushing guest.

"What are you studying?" he asked again, but quickly changed his mind, shaking his head and added, "What do you like to do?"

"I'm studying to be a doctor," she said, a slight hint of pride in her voice and a faint smile on her face. "And I guess I like swimming and playing chess and spending time with my friends." She giggled softly, laying her hand over her mouth, and her companion smiled slightly to see her light up like that. "You're going to like my friends."

"The other senshi?"

"Yes. You'll come along me tomorrow and we will properly introduce you. I don't think that today's introduction really counts."

He smiled softly, his entire being slowly relaxing as he sighed happily. "Thank you. I…I don't know how I could ever possibly hope to repay you."

She laughed good naturedly. "You don't have to. I'm happy to help."

"I…" He paused, breathing deeply, his face lightly flushed and he said, much quieter, "I knew to look for you because I, uh…What I mean is that I dream about you." Ami looked rather taken aback, and the man quickly and furiously blushed a deep red, bablbing incoherently for a moment before, much louder than he intended, exclaimed, "Wait, no! That's not what I meant to say! I mean, I didn't mean the implications about dreaming about you. Which I don't! I mean, uh…" He finally trailed off with an irritated growl, his face intensely flushed, and Ami couldn't help but laugh a little at the sheer magnitude of flustered-ness the man was exhibiting.

After a few deep, calming breaths, Serafim said slowly, measured, "I have been having dreams that you have been a part of, and in them, you guide me and protect me." He blushed slightly again, looking down at the floor. "As soon as I got the Dark Crystal, I knew that if I found you and the senshi, then I'd be safe."

His eyes bore into her, and Ami blushed furiously under the intense gaze, hand to her mouth as she focused on a speck of something on the floor to divert her attention. Slowly, the gears in her mind began moving, the sudden spark of realization pushing her modesty to the side as she inquired, "What happens in the dream?"

The man seemed shocked at the question. "I, uh, well…" he started, exhaling quickly. "I'm trapped, right? In just, you know, this black empty place. And then there's this light, far, far away, and then you," he said quietly, his voice softening. "You show up, and you take me from there, but all along the way, these dark hands try to pull me back. Buy you…you keep them awak. They fear you." He smiled softly, gazing at her in absolute adoration, but the oblivious genius missed this entirely, her bright, knowledgeable eyes alight with sudden understanding as the gears in her mind swiftly put the pieces together.

"I know what to do," Ami said quickly, her blue eyes seemilg to shine in the dull light of the room. "I've dreamt about you too, and I'm beginning to believe Raye when she says it's prophetic. But in my dream, you're killed. Perhaps it's a vision of what will come to pass, but I think it's a warning of things to come if we are not vigilant, alert, and stupidly naïve like we were today."

"I'm going to be killed?" Serafim asked quietly, his red eyes brave, but his skin paled at the thought.

"I don't think so," Ami smiled, triumphant but somehow somber as one is when they learn of an awful truth. "Not anymore. I know who kills you, and I know his motive."

"Who?" he asked swiftly. "What is it?"

She smiled grimly, hands gripping the back of the chair so tightly her knuckles turned white. "More than try to kill you, he is trying to resurrect a dark god." Breathing deep, she tensed, eyes locked with his and holding him transfixed. "The other man in my dream is Alkaios."


	22. Chapter 20

The moon sat full, bright and high in the sky, its brilliant glow casting long, blue shadows on the ground and a stunning reflection on the cool, still water in the silent park. It was well past midnight when the two generals walked along in the silent grove, their shoes tapping on the stone pathways and quickly surveying the water and trees and bushes, they had gone out, as commanded, to cause a commotion large enough to draw out the senshi from hiding, but as soon as they had left the apartment, they had felt a great surge of energy, and they had immediately gone to investigate, the feeling of threat and danger greatly outweighing their mission. They had ended up here, and traces of the tremendous energy could still be felt in the crisp, cold air and, remaining on guard, the two men set to thoroughly examining the area.

"I've never felt energy like this, it's strange to me," Kunzite said softly, and his companion grinned, hands thrusting into his pockets.

"I know it. It's the demon I fought earlier."

"Think we can take him?"

"Sure do. I held him off before on my own. With two of us, I think we can take it down." They heard a sharp snapping from behind them, and both men spun around quickly, eyes wide and alert. "We need to stay careful, though. He's still very powerful. And he's _huge_."

Kunzite nodded, his foot quickly flicking off the ground and he floated in the air just above the pathway. "Shall we go up and look for him, then?"

The blonde looked around quickly in all directions, straining to hear anything out of place, a task made difficult by a light breeze that rustled leaves and made thin branches on trees lightly sway. When he assessed that there was nothing out of the ordinary in the vicinity, Jadeite kicked off the ground and hovered next to the older general. "We should stay together though, okay?"

"Scared, Jadeite?" the icy man drawled, casting a smug look toward the younger man, who simply shrugged.

"Nah, I just think you're cute."

"Yes, well…Wait, what?"

"Come on, idiot," Jadeite said swiftly, laughing slightly to himself as he flew high into the night sky.

They did not say another word. In seconds, they were both high in the air above the park, the two soldiers working together in perfect unison, just as they had once done back when they had attacked and destroyed the Moon Kingdom. It did not take them long to locate where the demon had landed, a large hole that had seemed to have been blasted into the stone path, cubic pieces of rock strewn about and uncovering the moist soil before. After that, it was easy to track his path, the trail of destruction leaving the hole and continuing through broken trees and upturned grass and foliage; it was as though a truck had been driven right through the forest.

The trail finally stopped in a clearing with a children's playground, and it was here that Kunzite and Jadeite found the demon.

He nudged the older man in the ribs and pointed at the menacing figure. "I'll go in. You hang back and attack when he's distracted with me." The white haired man nodded, and Jadeite was off.

The demon was about to leave the area and continue on his way, his large, clawed feet leaving huge, frightening prints in the ground, when his head was struck by a sizable flying rock. He quickly spun around, yellow eyes narrowed as he locked on to the smug, cocky figure of Jadeite, sitting on a swing and tossing a similar stone up and down carelessly.

"Why, hello there!" He watched the demon closely, examining him as rage turned to pleasure, a sinister smile crossing the towering man's dark face. "Miss me?"

"I have orders to destroy you," the demon growled, and the little general merely grinned.

"Oh yeah? Taking orders from that swine Alkaios?"

Without warning, a sharp force of energy tore through the area as though the air was cut with a blade, and the chains of the swing were evenly cut, the general falling to the ground. He quickly stumbled to his feet, his heart nearly humming the beat was so quick. "Don't insult our leader, fool," the devil snarled, sharp, dangerous teeth fully exposed, his long fangs laying just over his lower lip, his powerful, square jaw line tense with rage.

Jadeite merely laughed, his voice sounding much stronger and more confident than he felt. "You are just a pawn! We destroyed your people before, and we'll do it again. We personally bitch slapped your dear leader and failing to kill him is a mistake I will not soon repeat!"

"We are no longer under the weak leadership of Serenity!" the demon snapped, eyes glowing with power. Hear who I am and fear us, human. I am Geryon the Demon, the Tenth of the Council of Twelve."

Jadeite smirked. "Never heard of you."

"Let this be your first and last time, then." With that, the massive creature launched himself at the smaller man, and Jadeite only just managed to quickly put up a force field which the creature colliaded with, shaking it profoundly and the barrier nearly collapsed under the tremendous force. Geryon grasped his hands together, and as heavily as he could, brought his fists down upon the field, and the barrier was shattered like glass, the force knocking Jadeite onto the ground.

As quickly as he could, the general darted out of the way as a large, powerful fist cut into the ground where his head was only moments ago, a deep imprint of his fist cut into the shattered, broken pavement. He managed to lightly touch the demons head, and on contact, Jadeite sent out a forceful, dark blast of energy that sent the demon flying back, crashing into a tree and the wood instantly splintered under the weight of the huge being.

This did not seem to hard the Tenth at all, seeming to annoy him more than anything else. As if he was not even phased, he launched his powerful self at the small, thin blonde, trapped in panic and fear and his efforts were not nearly enough to avoid Geryon; the colossal hand wrapped around the thin, slender neck of the general and forcibly ripped him from the ground, holding him aloft and tightening his crushing grip on the struggling man.

The demon smiled a toothy grin, his fangs long and menacing, a deep, cruel laugh rising from him as the teen became weaker in his efforts to escape. He could have easily snapped the boys neck, but the dark, animalistic man seemed to take a perverse joy, a cruel enjoyment in watching the young man grow weaker in his grasp.

The yellow eyes suddenly widened, and his grip on Jadeite went lax, the blonde falling to the ground and, as quickly as he could in his weakened, dazed state, scampered away. "Sweet lord, what took you so long!" Jadeite gasped hoarsely, sputtering and coughing a very safe distance from the stationary demon.

Geryon fell to his knees, a long pink blade of energy buried deeply in his lower back, cutting through him as easily as a hot knife through butter. "You do not have a comrade…"

The blade was effortlessly removed as though his body offered no resistance at all, and Kunzite strengthened the weapon, the ethereal blade glowing ever brighter, and glared in contempt at the slumped colossus. "He does now, fool."

"So what do we do with him?" Jadeite asked, eyeing but keeping his distance from the profusely bleeding demon.

"Well, we certainly can't let him go," the white haired man said matter of factly as he slid the energy blade back into the creatures back, and he roared in pain, the proud, powerful man temporarily subdued by the most powerful of the Dark Kingdom's soldiers.

Jadeite shrugged. "Let's kill him. We can't keep him forever, and he's a pain in the ass."

"Hey, you," Kunzite growled as he pushed the blade in deeper, the demon wincing at the increased pressure. "What are you doing here?"

"No doubt exactly as you are doing," Geryon grimaced. "We seek to destroy the senshi."

"Uh huh, and what about the Dark Crystal, hmm?" Jadeite asked snidely.

"It is not my mission."

"So why kill them?" Kunzite questioned forcefully, his commanding presence making the large man shrink back and appear smaller. "Your master is of the Moon Kingdom, the senshi are your kinsmen."

"The motives of my lord are not my business," he grinned, faint traces of blood on his teeth that came from his lungs. "I have just been given orders. The senshi need to die."

"Well," Kunzite said softly, "can't argue with that."

"Hey, demon, you from Nemesis?" Jadeite asked, creeping closer when he determined the man to be no longer dangerous. "Why work with the Moon Kingdom? They're your sworn enemies."

At this, the creature laughed harshly, the blood being forced out of his open wounds. "Alkaios will resurrect our god, Kurozuishou. And what will our people do to make this happen? Nothing. Our senshi are dead, our princess is gone. We are powerless, weak, pathetic. Alkaios will bring about the new age of darkness. He will destroy all those that stand in our way."

"So," Kunzite said softly. "That's what this is about. It isn't about a war between two nations, it's a flat out conquest."

"And in the end, the Moon Kingdom will reign supreme, but this time with the Dark Crystal at its heart!"

They were quiet for some time, save for the coughing and sputtering of the demon, before Jadeite quietly said, "Without Serenity, the Moon Kingdom is without the Silver Crystal. You're robbed of your rightful power, so why not get the senshi on your side to regain it?"

"Serenity is dead," the demon hissed. "That…that _idiot_ that the Silver Crystal has chosen is no ruler. It only further shows how the crystal – our god! – has betrayed us."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Kunzite sighed, shaking his head, "but you're gravely underestimating that girl."

"We may as well just let this fool go, Kunzite," Jadeite laughed. "Sailor Moon's going to obliterate this idiot."

"I also have orders to kill you."

He hardly had time to register what had been said when the young general was struck with the full force of the demon's power, a blast that sent him skidding across the ground, his skin and clothing ripping and tearing and leaving a bloody trail on the rocky earth.

It only took a flash of a second for the icy general to rip the energy blade from the demon's back, the weapon poised above his head as though he were a scorpion ready to strike. Without any hesitation, Kunzite plunged the pink blade through Geryon's neck, and the red eyes went blank, blood pouring from his neck and mouth as he was thrown to the ground, his massive body twitching with ragged breaths that inhaled only blood and swift, jerky involuntary movements for a few moments before falling entirely still.

The older man wasted no time in rushing to Jadeite, lying still far on the other end of the clearing in a thorny bramble. He carefully untangled the teen, taking care to not touch the raw, skinned areas of his chest and arms. He put his fingers to Jadeite's neck and closed his eyes, breathing a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse, faint, but present; he was alright. "Jadeite," the white haired man said firmly, shaking the boy slightly, and he groaned, moved slightly and then went limp, falling into full unconsciousness.

Sighing, Kunzite unfastened the clamps that held his cape and he carefully wrapped the blonde up, covering his battered body to shield him from further harm. He groaned slightly in annoyance as he picked up his comrade; the mission needed to be put on hold. For now, he needed to get aide to Jadeite; he teleported out of the park, leaving the demon and the bloody scene behind.

Everything was still and silent, save for Geryon's hand as it slowly and tightly clenched.


	23. Chapter 21

"I love you."

He barely whispered it, just to see how it felt to say it, just to see how it felt for those words to leave his lips. The room was dark, but he could make out the outlines of the objects in the room. The small clock on the desk read 4:38am, but he still could not sleep, his mind racing with thoughts and feelings that nagged and nagged and would not be silent.

All the years he had been running, all the time he spent alone without support, all the fear he had felt had been eradicated by this girl he had never met, both back then and now. The memories he had of Ami Mizuno were deeply rooted in the past, something he could not fully understand. He had never met her, but he felt as though he knew her, had at some point long ago been with her. The very thought of her had brought him peace when he had been afraid before, and it looked as if now she would now save his life.

"I love you."

Surely he was not the only one to have felt that same, strong attraction to the intelligent, kind, shy girl, but he felt he was different. He remembered a woman who simultaneously is and is not the Ami Mizuno that lay sleeping in the bed by the window, a soldier marked by a symbol on her forehead who was killed by a dark entity and reborn into the girl in this very room. And damned if he didn't know her, both then and now. He had vivid memories of her from before, memories of a Moon Kingdom and an alliance of nations between the planets of the solar system. But most importantly, he remembered her, remembered being together with her, remembered loving her, just as he did now. And yet…

These memories were not his, and when he looked back to the past and saw this time, it was not him, but a different man who was with her. And still, he remembered it as though the memories were his own. He knew he had never been to such a place as the one that was so clear in his memory, but there it was, none the less. That had to mean something. Whether or not she felt the same way or not, even if she had no knowledge or memory of what he did, it would not matter. He was just content to have found her and her fellow senshi.

He had decided. He would protect her too, just as she swore to protect him. Satisfied, Serafim closed his eyes, shifting slightly on the makeshift bed on the ground. With new resolve, the man closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

From the corner of the shadowed room, bright red eyes rose from the darkness.


	24. Chapter 22

"_**Owwwwwwwwwwwwww!"**_

He was swiftly rapped upon the head, and Jadeite shut his mouth, biting down so hard on his tongue that it began to bleed. Kunzite, caring for his battered friend, had poured a bottle of rubbing alcohol over the man's cut and bleeding chest. As the blond lay writhing. Kunzite wrapped up the teen's chest, arms and legs with a great deal of difficulty, the end result being that Jadeite looked not unlike a mummy.

"Stop squirming, will you?"

"It _hurts_!"

The white haired man swiftly snapped two fingers down onto the bridge of Jadeite's nose, earning a swift yelp from the younger man. "Shut up. The neighbors will complain if you keep this up."

"Hey," Jadeite snapped, and Kunzite's eyes narrowed. "Thanks. For, you know, saving my life."

The general showed hardly any emotion at all. "You don't have to thank me."

"Well, I'm going to."

"I needed you as bait so I could get the jump on him."

Jadeite was a myriad of confusion and irritation. "Gee…thanks, I guess."

There was a sharp knocking at the door and both men's heads turned toward it, looking like deer in a particularly troubling headlight.

"Told you you'd bother the neighbors."

"I'll get it," the blond said quickly, jumping up and putting pressure on his bad leg and he immediately collapsed behind the coffee table. Rolling his eyes, Kunzite removed himself from the sofa and lazily pulled the door open, his body going ridged, though, when he looked at the man who stood there.

Mouth gaping for a moment, he managed to ask, "Can I help you?"

Merely smiling smugly, the man moved Kunzite aside with little effort and with long, confident strides crossed the room, his strong hand helping Jadeite to his feet. When neither man moved nor spoke, the stranger softly said, "Hello, boys."

That was enough for Jadeite. He threw himself at the man, wrapping his arms about him and clinging to him tightly, hanging on more for support than to restrain the man. "I got him! I did it, we have the Dark Crystal! We have to tell our leader!"

"I am your leader, you dolt."

Craning his neck up, the teen's blue eyes locked with the red of the crystal holder, and he immediately let go, falling to the floor in the process. The man before them was, in fact, Serafim, the holder of the Dark Crystal, but the eyes were different. Though the same red as before, where they were once soft and gentle, they were now piercing and harsh, the exact eyes of the shadow that commanded them.

"Holy shit," Kunzite said breathlessly, letting the door hang open as he stepped toward the tall, proud man. "My lord, is that you?"

The hijacked body of Serafim grinned. "It is."

"If you can take over bodies, why didn't you do that before!" Jadeite cried from his place on the floor, throwing his hands up in the air.

Serafim scowled. "I would have if I were able. I am too weak to latch onto a person's soul; I need something to anchor me to a body. I can't just take over _anyone_. Not yet, at least." A light went off in Kunzite's mind.

"The Dark Crystal. That's why you can possess him. Is this how it will work with your body when we find it?"

"Exactly," Serafim said, snapping his fingers. "The crystal will seal my soul back in my body, just as I've done here."

"So, uh," Jadeite started, "is the boy dead now?"

"No," he said softly, scowling and crossing his arms. "I cannot destroy his soul, though I have tried. We will have to share this body, for the time being. But I don't have much time to be in control of him, so quickly, let's discuss what happened and what we do next."

"Fantastic," Jadeite said firmly. "The demon came back."

"And?"

"I killed him," Kunzite said proudly, and Serafim laughed.

"Don't kid yourself, he's not dead. It's going to take way more to kill such a creature." He paused. "What else?"

"He called himself Geryon," Jadeite said softly, and the red eyes lit up at the mention of the name. "He serves Alkaios, that guy we saw at the temple. It's pretty obvious he's the head idiot in all this. He was there when we attacked the Moon Kingdom too, we remember him."

"He called himself the Tenth," Kunzite added, voice tense with concern. "I stabbed him through the throat and he's not dead and he's only the tenth of such beasts? There's at least nine more, how are we supposed to take them?"

"Have you ever heard of Serenity VIII?" Serafim asked quietly and the generals looked at each other, unsure of where he was going. "It's not unusual if you have not. Her legacy has been warped and twisted into mere legend. Most of those who live outside the light do not even know her by the same name anymore."

The generals simply stared at the man, Jadeite seating himself on the couch and Kunzite standing behind it, listening intently. ""She was the one," he continued without a response from the men, "who first established the Moon Kingdom as it is today. Hundreds and thousands of years ago she joined the planets of this system under the rule of the Silver Crystal. A few did not join; Pluto, Mercury, the Sun, Nemesis all remained independent." He frowned, his entire body tensing up, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. "Those from the planets in the kingdom that opposed the rule of Serenity, regardless of the reason, were considered traitors and were arrested and exiled. Every single one of them, exiled to the planet of Nemesis."

"And they can do that?" Jadeite cried incredulously, and Kunzite glared at him.

"Of course they can, but what idiots. Sending rebels to their enemies? It's a recipe for disaster."

"You're both correct." Serafim said quietly, red eyes soft but bright with life. "They could not do that, and the natives of Nemesis were enraged. It started a whole new phase of the war and a new mentality toward the line of Serenity and her Moon Kingdom. Previous to this, Nemesis and the Moon had a close and powerful alliance bred from a close and common history."

"She made an enemy out of an entire nation of demons?" Kunzite questioned. "Why?"

"It's…complicated. The line of Serenity is one wholly dedicated to peace." He shook his head. "Not this one. Serenity VIII was a conqueror. She began a crusade of light against dark, saying there could be no peace so long as dark powers existed. And as claims like this so typically end, Serenity made an enemy out of those who were touched by the Dark Crystal and the natives of Nemesis who revered it." He shrugged. "The Nemians refused to submit to one they considered their equal."

"And those from other planets were fine with the conquest of their land?" Jadeite growled, and the red eyed man laughed.

"Some less than others, yes, but there was some resistance from most, predominantly from planets that sat farther away from the Moon and experienced less benefit from the light of the Silver Crystal."

"And the might of several planets together couldn't fight them off?"

Serafim shook his head, eyes both sad and angry. "It was a sudden attack that targeted the strongest of the lot, the Jovians, and they didn't stand a chance. Serenity utilized the Silver Crystal to utterly obliterate those who stood against her. The only ones who succeeded in resisting were those who held crystals of their own."

Kunzite crossed his arms and scowled, foot tapping swiftly against the hard mahogany floor. "This was nothing short of a hostile conquest."

"That it was, but her biggest mistake was exiling her rebels to Nemesis." The man slowly ran his fingers over the glass face of the coffee table, closing his eyes and reveling in the sensations of the cool, smooth glass, this sort of input having been lost to him for years. "The Nemians hardly accepted the exiles, but they did not kill them. They instead allowed them sovereign reign of themselves, and they formed into a group that called themselves the Black Moon Clan, and these people from every walk of life, cast out from the light of the Silver Crystal, were corrupted and tainted by the power of the Dark Crystal. They became wholly dedicated to destroying the Moon Kingdom that exiled them."

"And this is good for us?" Jadeite asked, and Serafim nodded.

"Yes. Those of Nemesis, both the natives and the exiles, are warriors unmatched in caliber by any other. Any force like this that battles against the Moon Kingdom is good news for us." He paused and looked out the window to the dark street below, the sky a deep, dark blue and the street lights giving the lifeless city an eerie glow. "Serenity VIII was a fierce warrior. Save for four, she managed to conquer the entire solar system and reign supreme over it. She was well on her way to immortality when Trinity II of Mercury struck her down."

"And the planets regained their sovereignty?" Kunzite asked, leaning over the dark leather couch, his hand defensively on the blond general's shoulder.

"She had been in power for thousands and thousands of years. They had become dependent on the rule by the Silver Crystal and-" He stopped suddenly, clutching his chest and eyes wide as the breath caught in his throat. The generals leapt up swiftly, Jadeite staggering on wounded legs, and took hold of him, laying the struggling man down upon the couch. Shaking, he grabbed Kunzite's hand and hissed, "I don't have much time left. Serenity VIII has been long dead, but her legacy lives on with Alkaios and the Council of Twelve that currently rule the Moon Kingdom."

"That's it," Jadeite said softly, laying his hand on his bandaged arm. "Geryon is one of twelve."

Serafim gasped, shuddering in pain as his eyes became dull. "The Moon Kingdom must be destroyed if this world is to be free. Kill them. Finish your Kingdom's work."

"When will we see you again?" Jadeite asked, becoming panicked as their leader began to fade.

"I don't know," he grimaced, hand clutching the seat tightly, the leather straining and wrinkling where he grasped and pulling it taut over the surface of the cushion. "Watch after him, alright? Keep him safe."

"We will do what we can."

He gave one final nod to his generals before his body went limp as the shadow lost his hold over the body he possessed.


End file.
